Torn Pages
by Backstroker98
Summary: Sequel to Off the Pages Jessica Cadwell is used to being a werewolf now, and right when she thinks everything is over, she is far from right. New werewolves, new threats, and new beginnings all come into play. Will she be able to protect her friends and mother from all the dangers, or will more than one funeral be held? Rated T for language and romance
1. Ends and Begininngs

Jess was sitting in her room typing an essay when a familiar pine scent caught her attention. "Hey Derek." She said without turning around. "I have to talk to you." He said in an unsure tone. Jess furrowed her eyebrows and turned towards him. "What is it?" she asked.

"I think this should be called off." Derek said.

"What?" Jess questioned.

"Us…or whatever this is."

Jess stood up. "Are you serious?" she asked. Derek averted his eyes causing Jess to cross her arms and looked away from him. "Did I do something wrong?" she questioned.

"No, but now that things are different, I have bigger priorities.

"Like what Derek?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry Jess." Derek said, turning and taking off out the window. Jess sat down and tears filled her eyes, but she shook them off and went back to her essay.

Jess was on her last paragraph when a blood curdling scream was let out in the woods causing her to look out her window. "Lydia?" she said. She got up off her chair and took off out the window. She jumped off her roof and landed on the street and took off into the woods, picking up Lydia's scent quickly.

In a matter of minutes, Jess arrived at the Hale House and was quickly acquainted by Scott, Stiles, and Allison. "Jess?" Scott said. "Hey, I heard the scream." Jess replied.

"Are you sure this is where her scent led you?" Stiles questioned.

"Yeah." Scott replied.

"But has Lydia ever been here?"

"Not with me." Allison said.

"She may have been driven here by instinct." Jess said. "Looking for an alpha, a pack, she was probably looking for Derek." She explained.

"Whoa guys look at this." Stiles said. "You see this?" Jess went over to Scott as Allison went over to Stiles. "If she's out there, what if she doesn't find Derek, but she finds the hunters?" she questioned. "That's why we have to find her first." Scott said. Just then a whip noise sounded and Scott and Jess were picked up off the ground and hung upside down in the air. "Stiles…" Jess said. "Yeah buddy?" Stiles asked turning around. "Whoa." He said looking at the sight. "Next time you see a trip wire, don't trip it." Scott said.

"Yeah, noted." Stiles said, walking towards the two suspended werewolves with Allison. "Wait!" Jess said in a loud whisper. "Someone's coming… hide." Allison and Stiles looked around. "GO." Scott barked.

The two omegas looked around while hanging upside down from the tree and saw Mr. Argent approach with a couple of other hunters. Mr. Argent approached and kneeled down in front of the two. "Scott, Jessica." He greeted. "Mr. Argent." They replied.

"How are you doing?" Mr. Argent asked.

"We're good, ya know just…hanging out." Scott answered.

"What are you two doing out here?"

"Looking for our friend." Jess told Mr. Argent

"Oh that's right Lydia's in your group now isn't she or oh there's another word…part of your pack?" Mr. Argent questioned. "Do you two know what a hemocoperectamy is?"

"I have a feeling we don't want to." Jess said.

"It's a medical term for amputating someone at the waist...cutting them in half," Mr. Argent explained. "It takes a lot of strength to cut through all that tissue and bone…let's hope a demonstration doesn't become necessary." Then Mr. Argent looked at Jess. "And Jess, I could actually use your help."

"With what?" she asked.

"Finding your boyfriend, Derek Hale, I need to talk to him."

"Sorry, I don't know where he is and he's not my boyfriend anymore."

"Werewolf break your heart?" he questioned. "Sorry to hear, but I know you know where he is, so why don't you just save us all the trouble and tell me where he is."

"Why do you want to know?" Jess questioned.

"He deserves to pay for what he and his uncle did, killing my sister and all."

"Your sister killed herself. She's the one who murdered the Hale family… she had it coming since the universe has a unique way of balancing things out."

Mr. Argent rose to his feet. "Well looks like I'll just have to find him myself." Then he walked back to the other hunters and away from the Hale house.

Once the coast was clear, Allison and Stiles came over. "Are you okay?" Allison asked the two omegas. "Yeah, just another life threatening conversation with your dad." Scott said. Jess leaned up and swiped her claws at the rope, cutting it and landin on her feet. Scott did the same. They walked up to the Hale house and found nothing, so called the search off for the night.

The next morning, Jess bumped into Isaac Lahey in the hall, resulting in her dropping her books. "Sorry…" he said. "It's alright." Jess said with a smile picking them up. Isaac got down and helped her. She looked up and saw his purple eye. "What happened?" she asked, gesturing at his eye. "Lacrosse is violent." He said, handing her her books. Jess listened as his heart had an uptick and she looked at him. "No you didn't." she said. "What really happened?" Isaac looked at her and then at the ground before walking past her. Jess watched as he rushed down the hall and to the locker room.

Third period was a free period for Jess and she was at her locker exchanging books when a scent caught her attention… Derek's scent. She closed her locker and followed it to the boy's bathroom down the hall where she heard Derek and Jackson. "What's happening?" she heard Jackson asked. "Your body's fighting the bite." Derek told him.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Derek said.

"What does it mean?" Jackson asked. "What does it mean?!"

Jess back up from the door and went back to her locker, opening it just as Derek stepped out of the locker room. He began walking towards the door and Jess slammed her locker and walked after him. She grabbed him by the jacket and slammed him into the wall. "Are you serious?" she demanded. "You bit Jackson?" Derek quick grabbed Jess, turned and slammed her into the wall. "What's it to you, huh?" he asked.

"No one deserves this."

"He wanted it."

"You should've spared him! He's not even seventeen and now he has to worry about being killed by hunters and freaking out on full moons."

"He was willing." Derek said.

"He was an idiot."

Jess pushed Derek's hands off her shoulders. "Have fun finding a pack." She barked, walking off.

After school, Stiles had detention, so Jess went to the graveyard to see Kate's funeral with Scott. "What do you think the Argents will do now?" Jess asked. "Hunters don't take deaths in the family lightly."

"I'm not sure..." Scott said.

Just then, Stiles came over as an older man with white hair greeted Mr. and Mrs. Argent. "Who the hell is that?" Stiles asked. "Reinforcements…" Scott replied

The three watched as the funeral continued when they were grabbed by the back of their shirts and lifted up. "You three are unbelievable." Sheriff Stillinski growled. "Pick up my tie." Stiles bent down to the ground and picked up the sheriff's tie that unclipped from his shirt before..

The three were then put in the back of Mr. Stillinski's squad car when someone radioed the Sheriff.

"We've got a 4-1-5 Adam." The radioer said. "I'm sorry I didn't copy that, did you say 4-1-5 Adam?" the sheriff responded. "Disturbance in a car." Stiles whispered to the two. The three listened as the man on the radio explained that they were taking a heart attack victim in an ambulance and something hit them.

"Hit the ambulance?" the Sheriff questioned.

"Copy that I'm standing in front of it, something got in the back of it, there's blood everywhere."

Stiles listened for the location and then the three opened the car doors and ran out of the car to where the ambulance was.

The three were crouched behind a small hill looking at the ambulance and what was inside: a dead man with blood everywhere. "What the hell is Lydia doing?" Stiles asked. Jess shook her head. "I don't know." She said.

"What kept you from doing that? Was it Allison?" he asked Scott.

"I hope so." Scott said. "And what was it for you?" Stiles asked Jess. She looked at him. "I don't know." She lied. "Do you need to get closer?" Stiles asked the Scott.

Scott took a deep breath. "I got it." he said. "You should go with him…" Stiles said. "No, if she comes back which she might, someone will need to hold her off." Jess protested.

"She's right." Scott agreed taking off into the woods.

Stiles and Jess began walking up to the road, but something caught her attention. A vaguely familiar scent that was light and floral, but buried under dirt and pine. She followed the scent a few yards down the road to a grouping of trees when she found her. She had frizzy, leaf filled hair and was shivering, but there she was. "Lydia!" she exclaimed hurrying over. She pulled her coat off and wrapped it around her naked body. "You're alright." She said, putting an arm around her and walking her out of the trees and towards the group of police. "I need some help over here!" Jess called out.


	2. Protecting Moments

Jess was taking a walk down the sidewalk under the stars, wondering what she was going to do about the full moon tomorrow. It would be the first one she had and was considering going to Derek for help since Scott still had difficulty handling it.

She was debating the idea of going to Derek in her head as she walked when she saw someone run from their house and grab their bike and then riding off down the street. Then someone else came out of the house, got into their car and followed after the person on the bike. Jess could hear the rapid heartbeat of whoever was on the bike and followed after them, feeling some sort of protection over them like she does Scott.

Jess chased the kid on the bike into an alley before stopping them. "Stop!" she yelled. The kid stopped and turned when Jess recognized it was Isaac. She ran up to him as the rain began falling and stood in front of him picking up a scent… a werewolf scent. Jess looked at Isaac's eyes with hers and shifted eye colors to the glowing yellow. "You're with Derek." She said. He nodded. "Who are you?" he asked. "Jessica Cadwell…his ex." She told him.

No words were spoken for some time when Isaac's dad appeared at the end of the alley. They hid behind a wall watching as another figure appeared in the alley and went after Isaac's father.

"Come on." She said grabbing Isaac's hand and pulling him out of the alley towards where Derek was… the abandoned railroad house in Northern Beacon Hills.

She rushed inside with Isaac and down into the train where Derek was. He was standing in the shadows, his glowing red eyes looking as if they were floating.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, noting the pair was out of breath.

"My dad…I think he's dead."

"Whadid you do?" Derek questioned, stepping out of the shadows. "That's the thing…it wasn't me." Isaac said.

"It was something else." Jess interjected.

"Why are you here?" Derek asked her sternly. "I went after a kid who was being chased by his abusive father." She growled.

"Did you two see anything?" Derek asked. Isaac and Jess looked at each other. "No, other than it was on two legs." Isaac said.

Once Isaac was calmed down, he sat in the broken down train and Jess and Derek stepped out to the warehouse.

"Why did you follow Isaac?" he asked, leaning against the train. "I don't know…" Jess admitted, not wanting to go into detail with him because she was still pissed at him.

"Did you see anything else?" he asked. Jess shook her head. "No…" she turned to leave, but stopped. "While I'm here…"she began. "Tomorrow's the full moon…can you… help me?" she asked. Derek gave her a long look before nodding once. With that, Jess left.

The next day at lacrosse practice, Jess went over to Scott and Stiles at the bench. "We have to talk." She said. "Now?" Scott asked. "No next week yes right now!"

"What is it?"

"Are you on the team?" The Coach yelled interrupting the conversation as he walked over to Jess. She looked at him. "Uh… no." she said. "Then get away from my players and in the stands." He exclaimed. Jess got up and walked to the bleachers where she took a seat.

Practice was instantly interesting when Scott kept running out of goal and tackling the other players before sniffing them. "Oh yeah, he knows." Jess said, observing the practice.

Isaac's turn was up and when he and Scott collided, they flew in the air and landed on their stomachs. Jess couldn't hear what they were saying when three policemen walked into sight causing her to rush onto the field.

The officers took Isaac over to the side and told him his father was murdered and he was a suspect. Jess couldn't risk Isaac getting locked up on the full moon and interjected. "Mr. Stillinski." She said walking over. "I was with Isaac last night, he ran off and his father followed him last night after him and his father got into an argument. Once he got away from his dad, he came knocking on my front door."

Sheriff Stillinski looked over Jess. "Is that true Isaac?" he asked. Isaac nodded. "Do you have any proof he was with you last night?" he then questioned Jess. She shook her head. "My mom was working late last night at the hospital. I was alone before I brought Isaac in."

"I still have to take Isaac in and bring you in for questioning, so both of you come with me." Jess walked over to Isaac and grabbed his hand once she heard how fast his heart was going. He looked at her and she gave him an, "it's okay." look.

At the station, Jess was put in the questioning room and had to answer all the questions Sheriff Stillinski was throwing at her.

"How do you know Isaac Lahey?"

"He's lived on my street since I was eight."

"What is your relationship with him?"

"Neighbors…acquaintances, we were never friends before recently."

"What about his father? Did you know he was hitting him?"

"I never talked to Isaac that much before like I said. But when he showed up at school with a black eye I had a suspicion.

Just then she heard Isaac talking to her. "Why are you doing this for me?" he asked her.

"Why were you so eager to protect Isaac?" the sheriff asked. "Because I care, and I wanted to protect him." Jess explained, answering both questions.

The questions came for a couple more hours until she was finally allowed to leave. "What about Isaac?" she asked Sheriff Stillinski. "We're gonna hold him overnight." He told her.

"Why? He's innocent!" Jess angered.

"We need proof he was with you last night."

"I'm your proof!"

"We need an eye witness, I'm sorry Jessica."

Jess stormed out of and saw the moon was beginning to rise. She froze in her tracks and backed up. She rushed inside a storage closet and locked the door when she began feeling the shift begin.

Jess reached full wolf form within a few minutes when she heard the fire alarm go off and had a sense that someone was in danger. She bashed at the door until it came off the hinges and took off down the hall.

She reached the holding room where she found Derek in the middle of the room, Isaac on the ground in human form, and Stiles behind the desk. Derek looked at her and saw she was in wolf mode. He let out a loud, dominant roar that worked on Isaac to change him back, but had no effect on Jess. She charged at Derek who flung her into the wall behind him. She quick got up and saw Stiles. He looked terrified and she looked back at Derek, thinking he was trying to hurt him. She ran and tackled him onto the ground he fought her off and pinned her on back, his knees on her shoulders. She fought to get free, but Derek held her down. "Jessica!" he yelled. "Come on Jessica!"

Jess grabbed Derek's shirt and then felt the thumping of his heart and stopped trying to get free. She looked at where his heart was and listened to the _thump thump thump_. Then she went into a flashback.

_It was the night that Peter died and Derek set up the make-up date on the top of Beacon Hills on the top of the mountain. They were now sitting on a blanket together looking at the stars that filled the night sky. Jess sat comfortably sat between Derek's legs with his arms wrapped around her as they looked at they looked at the sky. "Thank you Derek…" Jess whispered. _

_ "Don't thank me." he whispered back. She turned her head to look at him and he looked down at her as she raised her head to kiss him. He smiled as his lips met hers for a deep passionate kiss. Raising his hand to the side of her face, Derek pulled her closer to him as his lips moved with hers._

_ After a few seconds Jess pulled away and looked at him. "I could always show you how thankful I am." She suggested with a smile. Derek chuckled once before reconnecting their lips again._

Jess broke out of the flashback and looked at Derek's face as she began slowly shifting back to her human form. Her pointed ears minimized and her skin stretched back out so it was normal again. Her canines went back to normal teeth and the wolf hair went away. Finally, her glowing yellow eyes turned back to their icy blue. Jess gave Derek a hurt look and pushed him off of her to get up. Walking out without a word, Jess left the station in anger and sadness.

In her room relaxing in her pajamas when she Derek came through her window. "What Derek?" she asked angrily getting out of bed. "I just came to see if you were alright…" he explained.

"I'm fine." Jess said. "Now can you go?"

"Can I just ask what brought you back?"

"No."

"Jess please?"

She gave Derek an angry and hurt look. "Fine you really wanna know?" she questioned. "It was you! I heard your heartbeat and it made me think back to the night where you took me up in the mountain and we danced and spent the entire night together." Derek's eyes fell. "Just get out." Jess barked.

"Jess-" he began.

"I said GO!" she growled, her eyes changing to yellow. With that, Derek turned and left out the window with a pain in chest that no power could heal.


	3. Catching You

The next day in gym class, Jess watched as Scott and Allison climbed the rock wall and laughed when Allison kicked Scott's foot he came falling down. He stopped falling a few feet above the ground and then was dropped to the mat. "You know McCall." Coach Finstock said. "Your pain brings me a special kind of joy…alright next. Cadwell, Erica, you're up!"

Jess hooked her harness up began climbing and Erica followed behind, but only got up no more than ten feet before she began freaking out. Jess reached the top and began going back down, but stopped where Erica was. "I'm fine!" Erica called down. "Erica…" Jess said. "It's okay, just let go…" Erica shook her head. "Erica, just fall back, there's a mat to catch you." Coach called up. "Erica, we'll do it together, come on." Jess said, reaching her hand out to her. Erica looked at Jess and then at her hand. She held out her hand and took Jess's. "Okay, on the count of three, we are going to let go together." Jess told her. "Together?" Erica questioned. Jess nodded. "Ready?" she asked. Erica nodded.

"One…two…" Jess counted. "Three." The two girls let go of the wall and fell to the mat safely. "Just shake it off." Jess told Erica, unhooking herself. The students began murmuring and some laughed. "Why don't all of you just shut the hell up?" Jess barked. "I don't remember laughing Greenburg when you got hit in the balls with a basketball and fell over on your ass in tears." Everyone took a step back and cleared a path for Erica and Jess.

In the girls' locker room, Jess was changing out of her gym uniform and into her normal clothes. Erica was sitting on the bench and looked like she wanted to cry. Jess sat next to her. "Don't beat yourself up about it Erica, it's alright." Jess comforted her. "No it's not! I'm a joke to everyone because I have neurological disorder that makes me have seizures that everyone gets a kick out of." Erica cried.

"Remember the break in at the school a couple of weeks ago?" Jess asked.

"Yeah." Erica said.

"Well everyone found out I was in the building and died from an asthma attack momentarily. They also heard about me being in the hospital and all that fun stuff."

"What's your point?"

"I wasn't the only one in the building and I was attacked. Some kids started a rumor saying I broke in, got injured while trashing the place, and had an asthma attack after seeing all the cops outside from being overwhelmed." Jess explained. "I still get picked on because of a dumb rumor, but I don't let it get to me, just ignore those kids. They don't know what it's like to go through those things and shouldn't be judging people so quickly." Jess stood up and went to her gym locker again. "Thanks Jessica." She said. Jess gave her a smile. Then Erica left the locker room.

Jess was fixing her hair when she got an unusual feeling in her chest and the next thing she knew, she was running out to the gym just as Erica fell off the rock wall and Scott caught her. "Scott!" she yelled running over as the rest of the class came running out.

Erica began having a seizure and Allison told her to put her on her side. Scott did as Allison said and Erica gripped Jess's hand for dear life as she shook uncontrollably. "How'd you know?" Jess asked. "I just did." he answered.

Later at the hospital, Jess was in the waiting room, waiting to see Erica and hear an update. Jess's mom walked out and came over to her daughter as she rose to her feet. "How is she?" she asked concerningly. "She's fine, we are keeping her overnight just to be safe, but you can see her now." Her mom told her. Jess breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her mom before going to Erica's room.

In Erica's room, she was lying down in bed. "Hey Erica," Jess greeted, walking in. Erica looked at Jess weakly. "Hi…" she replied.

"What were you thinking?" Jess questioned.

"I don't know I just wanted to be like everyone else." Erica explained.

"Everyone else was hooked up to a line and harness." Jess pointed out. "You were free climbing and could have been seriously injured or killed if Scott didn't get out there when he did."

"Just please don't do that again." Jess said.

"I won't." Erica promised.

Jess smiled. "I have to get back to school, I will see you tomorrow." She said, walking out.

The next day at school, Jess was walking down the hall and saw Jackson yelling at Lydia who was against the wall. "You're immune and somehow gave it to me! You ruined it for me! Just like you ruin everything!" Jackson yelled. Jess rushed over and pushed Jackson away. "What the hell is your problem?!" she demanded. Jackson turned and left without a word, clearly still angry. Jess turned to Lydia who was in tears. "Are you okay?" Jess asked. Lydia shook her head and ran to the girls' bathroom.

Later at lunch, Jess listened to Scott and Stiles as they talked about their plan tonight: ice skating at the ice rink with Allison and Lydia. Jess took a sip of water from her bottle when she saw Erica and spit her water out in Stiles's face. "What the hell-" Stiles began. "Look…" Jess said, looking at the cafeteria entrance.

It was Erica. Only she looked completely different. Her hair had more life and wasn't frizzy, her skin was tanner thanks to make-up, her lips were an eye-popping red, she had eye make-up on which made her eyes stand out, and to top it all off, she had a black mini-skirt on with a white shirt, black jacket, and high heels.

"What. In the holy hell. Is that?" Lydia asked, Scott and Jess able to hear the question. "It's Erica…" Scott said. They watched as Erica took a hard bite from a kid's apple and then wiped her lips with her finger before walking back out. Jess, Scott, and Stiles all ran from the cafeteria and outside where Erica was just getting into a familiar black car and she flashed them and all teeth smile getting into the car. Then the three looked at who was in the driver's seat…Derek who gave them a them the same toothy grin before speeding off.

"I'm gonna kill him." Jess growled, her eyes turning yellow and stepping down the first two steps down before Scott grabbed her. "We all want to kill Derek, but that's not going to help." He protested.

"It'll help me…" Jess debated.

"Derek needs at least three…we have to figure out who he wants to change next." Scott said.

Jess pushed Scott's hand off of her and her eyes went back to blue. "Fine, but then I rip his throat out." She barked, walking back into the school.

The next day, Jess left school early and went to look for Isaac to find out who was next. She tracked his scent to a spot in the woods. "You know being out here as a fugitive isn't the smartest thing." Jess said approaching the werewolf. "What are you doing out here?" he asked her.

"Could you just tell me who Derek is turning next?" Jess asked.

"Why should I?" Isaac questioned.

"Because I am trying to save someone."

"From what?" Isaac asked. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me…and have you seen Erica?"

"Yeah, but you don't know what it's like to be hunted, and you freaked out on the full moon, you know what that's like." Jess pointed out. "Derek was captured before, chained up, beaten, and electrocuted. I got an arrow shot in my chest and Scott got one to his forearm."

"Do you want that for someone? Did you want that for yourself?" Jess questioned.

"Now at least I have something close to a family." Isaac said.

"Derek just wants power, which is what he's getting from turning you."

"And I am getting power, too."

"Isaac, please just tell me." Just then Jess's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw it was a text from Scott. It read:

_Meet me at the ice rink after school. It's Boyd._

Jess looked at Isaac. "Forget it; I have to pick my mom up at the hospital." Jess lied, keeping her heart rate steady so Isaac couldn't pick up on her lie.

Upon returning to school, Jess was pulled into the bathroom by Erica. Erica pinned her to the wall. "Why are you trying to ruin this?" she questioned. Jess pushed her off of her and she flew into the bathroom stall door, breaking the hinges. "We are trying to save an innocent teenager's life." Jess said.

"By trying to stop him from getting a gift as great as this?" Eric questioned

"He'll be hunted and try to kill people on the full moon." Jess reminded her.

"But it's worth it."

"Have you been hunted yet? And you haven't experienced the full moon yet, Erica."

"I don't have to worry about seizures anymore or taking medication or being embarrassed in front of the whole school."

"I understand, but is it worth getting killed for?"

Jess gave her a hard look before leaving the bathroom, leaving Erica in a deep thought.

Scott and Jess were about to head over to the ice rink when Jess's phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw she had to go over to the hospital to talk to her mom. "I'll be over in a few minutes." Jess said. "It's about a person of interest being seen entering and leaving the hospital yesterday." She said, realizing it was about Derek.

At the hospital, Jess saw her mom talking to Sheriff Stillinski. "Here she is now." She heard her mom say approaching. "Hi Mr. Stillinski." She greeted. "Hello Jessica." He replied. "You were here yesterday to see Erica, correct?" he asked. She nodded. "Well Derek Hale was seen entering her room and exiting the hospital, did you see anything?" the sheriff asked. Jess shook her head. "No, I was only with Erica for a few minutes." She explained.

Just then Jess felt an odd feeling in her chest like when Erica fell. "Any more questions?" Jess asked. "Just one." The Sherriff said. "Do you know Derek Hale at all?"

"No." Jess answered. "Are we done, I actually have to go somewhere."

"Yeah, go ahead." The sheriff said. Jess rushed out of the hospital and drove to the ice rink where she found Scott sliding Derek's betas across the ice.

"He's right." Derek said. Jess looked at him. "It is about power." Then Derek walked towards Scott and brought out his claws. Jess ran onto the ice, claws out and went wolf just as she jumped and tackled Derek onto the ice from behind. The two slid across the ice and Jess slid off of him. Derek stood up as Jess did and threw a punch with Jess blocked, but Derek brought his other arm around and punched her. She brought her fist up and hit him in the face repeatedly as he stepped back. Then she spun on one foot and went to kick him, but he grabbed her leg and threw her across the ice.

She stopped herself from sliding and saw Derek going after Scott. She pulled herself up and ran at Derek before jumping and kicking him in the back, sending him on his stomach. He got up and punched Jess across the face twice and she fell to the ground and he slid her over to Scott who helped her to her feet. "You don't want to be like him." Scott told Boyd who was getting off of the Zamboni. "You're right." Boyd agreed. Then he lifted up his sweatshirt up, revealing a bite mark. "I wanna be like you." Then he followed Derek and his betas off the rink.

Jess spit the blood out of her mouth as she changed back into human form and Scott asked how she was able to hold him off.

"I'm a strong beta." She explained wiping the blood away from her nose. "They exist in myth and are almost as strong as an alpha. They are faster, stronger, and heal a lot faster, but the breed is rare."

"How did you become one and not me or the others?" Scott questioned.

"It's just someone's fate and they are very rare." Jess told him

The two walked off the ice and Jess drove Scott to work. "Listen." Jess said, before unlocking the doors. "Derek is dangerous right now, more than ever. He has three betas in his pack which mean he is a hell of a lot stronger than he was before. If I didn't get to the rink when I did, you could have been seriously hurt. Let me deal with Derek." she unlocked the doors and Scott left without a word.

Jess drove home and parked in the driveway before hitting the steering wheel several times with her hands and then putting her head down on it. She hasn't had time to cry until right now.


	4. Chlorine Fix

The next morning, Jess dressed in dark grey skinny jeans and a white V-neck with a pair of black boots and a leather jacket. She was going to talk to Derek about last night about the creature Scott, Stiles, and Allison all encountered despite how pissed she was at him.

At the railroad station, Jess stopped at the top of the stairs and watched as Derek threw Isaac on the ground repeatedly until he didn't get up. Then she watched as Erica jumped off the train at him, only to be thrown down next to Isaac.

Derek looked at his betas momentarily before walking away. "Does anyone wanna try not being completely predictable?" he questioned, turning around only to be jumped on by Erica and kissed passionately by her. Jess's eyes went yellow and her claws came out seeing someone other than her kissing Derek.

The two wolves kissed for a several seconds before Derek threw her off of him and wiped his mouth. "That's the last time you do that." He told Erica. She's done it before? HELL NO! "Why?" Erica questioned. "Cause I'm a beta?"

"No, because I have someone else in mind for you." Derek informed her.

""Are we done?" Isaac asked. "Cause I have about a hundred broken bones that need a few hours to heal."

Derek walked over and crouched down next to Isaac, taking his arm and then breaking in a quick movement. "A hundred and one." He said. "You think I'm teaching you how to fight?" he questioned. "I'm teaching you how to survive!" Derek got up and Isaac sat up. "Why are they waiting?" Isaac asked. "If they wanted us dead, what are they waiting for?"

"I don't know." Derek admit, stepping back. "But they're planning something and you especially know that. Whatever that thing is that killed Isaac's father I think it killed someone else last night. Which is why I need to teach you everything I know." Derek went on, walking towards the train. "As fast as I can teach you." Then Jess took this as her moment and jumped off the ledge, tackling Derek onto the cement floor. She landed on top of him and stood up immediately with a smirk on her face . Derek got up and faced Jess. "You're teaching them wrong." She told him. "You know anger is the trigger and you have to give them something to be angry about."

Jess turned towards the betas who were standing up with their arms crossed. "Erica." She said. "Next time you're training, imagine all those kids laughing at you while you shook uncontrollably on the ground while having a seizure. And how one kid taped it and put it online." Then Jess moved to Isaac. "And you. Imagine your father, locking you up in a freezer and hitting you, his own son." Then Jess looked at Derek. "That should help." She said.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked.

"Good to see you, too, I am here about what happened last night." Jess said.

"I don't know what it was, so don't ask."

"You haven't even seen it?"

Derek shook his head. "Have you?" Jess shook her head.

Feeling no more need to be there, Jess turned and walked past the betas and up the stairs back to her car.

At school a little while later, Jess sat outside next to Allison who was talking to Stiles, but also completely out of breath. "Should I even ask?" Jess questioned sitting down as Stiles ran back into the school. "With my parents monitoring every way of communication, Stiles is playing messager for me and Scott." Allison explained. "Scott's boss says that Gerard will have some kind of record of creatures my family has ever encountered."

"You mean a beastiary?" Jess asked.

"That's what Stiles said." Allison confirmed.

The two girls discussed the beastiary which Jess knew a little about, telling Allison hunting families kept them to record the creatures to give future family members insight on what they hunt. "My dad actually has something like that…" Jess added. "It's an encyclopedia on mythical creatures."

"Wait, you have one?" Allison questioned

"Yeah, my father said a friend gave it to him, but I have read it over twenty times and I can tell you right now there isn't anything about a human shifting into a lizard that can paralyze prey with a toxin in the book." Jess told her.

"Well Gerard has one, old and bound with leather."

"Just like the one in my father's study."

Just then Stiles ran over to the table, breathing heavily. "Where…does…he…keep it?" he asked between breaths. "Close to him that is also protected…his office probably." Allison told him.

Stiles appeared a few minutes later basically dying of breathlessness inhaler and taking a long drag from it. "You know drug dealers have been using disposable cell phones pretty successfully for years." Stiles reminded Allison.

"My parents check every e-mail, every text, and every phone call…trust me, they'd find it." Allison informed Stiles. "Okay, but can you get the book?" Jess asked her. "Not without his keys." Allison told her.

Later that evening before the lacrosse game, Jess picked up one of her mom's favorite dinners at the local Italian place, ravioli in tomato sauce with a side salad and garlic knots.

Jess walked into the hospital and to her mom's nurse's station where she was going through files. "Hey mom." Jess greeted, walking to the counter. Her mom looked at her. "Hey Jess, what are you doing here?" she asked walking over.

"I was heading to the lacrosse game, but I thought you could use some non-cafeteria food tonight." Jess said handing her the takeout bag

"Ravioli?" her mom questioned.

"Yes."

"Tomato sauce?"

"Yes."

"Two garlic knots?"

"Yes."

"Oh thank you sweetie." Her mom said. "I have the greatest daughter." Jess smiled. "Oh we finally got the nurse's station down the hall fixed. I have no idea how that window shattered and the wall got dented." Her mom said. Jess thought back to that night where she got thrown around before being bit. "I have no idea." She replied. Her mom chuckled. "I gotta get back to work, have fun at the game." Her mom said, taking the bag of Italian with her. "Love you." After that Jess walked out of the hospital and drove to the lacrosse game.

Jess took her seat near Allison and her grandfather just as the Beacon Hills lacrosse team being thrown around on the field and Stiles took Gerard's keys from Allison. Then her eyes went back to the field as more players began being thrown around…literally

As five minutes turned to ten and ten turned to fifteen without Stiles still didn't come back Jess grew more and more worried when the familiar pain in her chest came back. She looked around and knew Stiles was in trouble. She got up and rushed off of the bleachers and ran towards the school.

She burst through the doors and took a whiff. She followed the scent down the hall and she landed at the pool. She heard heavy breathing and water being sloshed around. She opened the doors and saw Erica out cold on the floor and Stiles and Derek in the water. "Guys?" she asked walking in. "Jess! Get out of here!" Derek yelled. Jess gave him a confused look and then heard a noise behind her. She turned around and saw the lizard like creature looking at her with slit yellow eyes up on the balcony and knew instantly what it was. The the creature jumped down and Jess turned to run, only to be swiped in the back of her neck. "Jessica!" Derek exclaimed. She put the hand on the back of her neck and wobbled down the middle of the two pools before falling over completely onto her stomach.

"Jess!" Derek called out. "I'm fine!" she told him. The creature walked over and put her face near hers. "Jessica…" she heard Derek whisper. The creature put its claws on the side of her face and slid it down her face, not breaking the skin. Jess looked into the creature's eyes and saw evil, but also, sadness. Then the creature climbed off of her and went back to the balcony.

An hour went by and Jess was still paralyzed and so was Derek. "Can you get me out of here before I drown?" he asked Stiles. "You're worried about drowning? Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth?" Stiles questioned.

"Did you notice I'm paralyzed from the neck down in **eight feet of water**?" Derek asked angrily.

"Okay." Stiles said. "I don't see it." Then Jess heard the sound of Stiles paddling before Derek told him to stop. Then Jess saw the creature circle the pool. "What's it waiting for?" Stiles asked.

Another hour went by before Jess heard Stiles say he couldn't support Derek much longer. "No no no don't even think about!" Derek objected. "Could you just trust me this once?" Stiles questioned.

"NO!"

"I'm the one keeping you alive, have you noticed that?"

"Yeah and when the paralysis wears off who's gonna be able to fight that thing you or me?"

"Another werewolf right here…" Jess interjected.

"Is that why I've been holding you up for the past two hours?" Stiles asked , ignoring Jess.

"Yeah." Derek answered. "I don't trust you, you don't trust me, but you need me to survive which is why you are not letting me go…"

Jess watched as Stiles gave Derek a hard look before throwing him off of him. "Stiles!" he yelled before going under. "Derek!" Jess called. "Stiles, you have to hurry!"

Jessica watched Stiles freestyle over to the side of the pool and grab his cell phone before the creature got to him. He dialed Scott's number when he got back to where he was treading water before and put his phone to his ear, only to quickly look at his phone in disbelief. "Stiles get Derek!" Jess yelled. Stiles threw his phone in the water before diving down into the water and coming back up with Derek.. "Tell me you got him." Derek said between heavy breaths. Stiles didn't respond.

Another while went by before Stiles couldn't hold Derek anymore. "I need something to hold onto." He said. Jess watched as Stiles swam to the pool blocks and try to grab onto the backstroke start bars just as Scott ran in. "It's about time…" she said quietly. She watched Scott pull the two out of the water and throw them out of the water before letting out a loud, dominant roar that echoed in the auditorium. The creature ran by Jess, grabbing her and standing up in front of the three with her as she "stood" there motionless.

The creature let out a hiss and then Jess began to feel her hands. She extended her claws and jammed them into the creature's flesh. It let out a cry of pain and then threw Jess into the pool. She hit the water and pulled herself right back up to the surface as Scott was thrown into the wall mirror. "Scott! Hold up a piece of the glass!" Jess called out. Scott did as she said and the creature looked at the glass, mesmerized and confused by its own reflection. Then it ran and jumped off the wall and jumped out the ceiling window, sending pieces of glass into the pool…right on top of Jess. The glass was already hitting her and the water before she could get under the water, causing glass to fall on her head and shoulders.

She retreated under the water and swam to side of the pool, feeling weak from the venom that was still in her. She went to pull herself out of the pool when a pair of strong familiar arms did it for her. She and Derek collapsed on the ground as her cuts and gashed healed and the blood stopped rushing out of her. "Thanks…" she said. "Anytime…" Derek panted.

Not too long later, Stiles, Scott, and Jess were standing around a laptop looking at the beastiary. "Is that even a language?" Stiles questioned. "How are we supposed to figure out what that thing is?" Scott added. "It's called a Kanima." Jess said as Derek and Erica approached. "You knew?" Scott questioned. Jess shook her head. "Only when I got a good look at it…" Jess explained. "I told you to hold up the mirror because it doesn't know what or who it is."

"What else do you know?" Stiles asked.

"Not a lot, I only have heard a few rumors."

"I've heard stories about it." Derek interjected. "So it's like us?" Scott asked. "A shape shifter, yes, but it's not right… it's like a…" Derek couldn't find the right word.

"Like an abomination…" Stiles finished. Derek nodded before turning away with Erica. "Derek!" Scott said. The two turned around. "We need to work together on this…maybe even tell the Argents."

"You trust them?" Derek questioned.

"Nobody trusts anybody that's the problem." Scott declared. "While we're here arguing there's something stronger, scarier, faster and it's killing people! And we still don't know anything about it!"

"I know one thing." Derek said, turning and walking off. "When I find it…I'm gonna kill it."

After a hot shower, Jess was sitting at her desk in a pair of grey shorts and a black hoodie with her hair in a messy bun reading _To Kill A Mockingbird. _She dog eared the page and stood up, walking to her bed when Derek came through the window. "Really the front door is a great entry point." She managed out before Derek came over, grabbed her face, pulling it to his and crushing his lips to hers.

Jess didn't know what exactly what was happening, but went with it. She linked her arms around Derek's neck as he put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him. After a few seconds, he pulled away. "I seriously thought I was going to lose you tonight." He said as Jess opened her eyes. "I really have no idea what to say." She admit. "Don't say anything." Derek told her, pressing his lips to hers again. He pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting it fall loosely and then picked her up around his waist before turning towards the bed and falling on top of it. He pulled off Jess's hoodie and threw it on the floor before reconnecting his lips to hers. She pulled off his shirt, throwing it onto the floor as Derek moved his lips to her neck. Jess ran her fingers through his hair when he pulled her up onto his lap and he kissed her lips again as passionately as he could.


	5. Venomous Gifts

The next morning, Jess awoke to a pair of strong arms still around her. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Derek was still fast asleep. She smiled to herself seeing he stayed all night and then saw she overslept. "Damn it." she said in a whisper as she crawled out of bed and rushed into her bathroom. She jumped into the shower and took the world's fastest shower before getting out and washing her face. Then she towel dried her hair and put on underwear before going back into her room. She pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a black camisole top, and then a dark red long sleeved shirt. As she tied her hair up into a messy bun, Derek woke up.

He watched Jess tied her hair up and then go over to her dresser to put on some make-up as fast as possible. He rolled his eyes and leaned over the bed to grab his jacket. He looked up and saw Jess preoccupied with collecting her school things as he pulled the necklace from the inside pocket of his jacket that he grabbed last night after he tested Jackson with the Kanima venom. He put the necklace in his fist as Jess turned around.

Jess turned around and saw Derek was up causing her to stop rummaging around like an idiot. "I'm gonna be late to school, I will see you this afternoon." She said, stuffing her notebook in her backpack. "Before you go." He said getting out of bed (in his boxers). He walked over and told her to turn around. "Why?" she questioned. "Just turn." He said with a sexy smirk on his face. She turned around and he raised the necklace, placing it around Jess's neck and clamping it closed. Jess turned back towards Derek and picked up the design hanging on the necklace. The gold chain held a circle with a symbol on the circular design plate. There was a small crescent moon in the top and a wave-ish line that turned into a spiral at the bottom. Jess looked at it, but couldn't figure out what it meant. "What's it mean?" she asked, looking at Derek.

"You have to figure it out." He told her.

Jess smiled and kissed him on the lips. Derek put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him. The kiss continued for a few seconds before Jess pulled back. "I have to go…" she complained. Derek reconnected their lips again and as much as Jess wanted to stay, she couldn't. She pulled away and picked up her bag before kissing Derek's cheek and rushing downstairs to her car.

At school Jess immediately saw Isaac and grabbed him by the jacket. "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. Isaac glared at her. "I had Jackson say he saw me go to your house the night my father was murdered." He smirked before walking off.

Jess didn't see Scott or Stiles until later that day in chemistry when she had to sit in with the junior class since her teacher was out and the sub decided to take a half day.

She zoned out as Harris went on about Einstein and picking on Stiles until they started the lab. Jess sat with a random student while Stiles went with Isaac, Allison sat with Lydia, and Scott went with Erica. Jess listened to Stiles warn Isaac not to harm Lydia and Erica flirt with Scott. When the bell ran, Jess went over to Isaac, Scott went to Lydia, and Allison went with Erica.

"It isn't her." Jess told Isaac. He looked at her. "What makes you so sure?" he questioned. "I looked into the thing's eyes and I just know it isn't her." She told him. He rolled his eyes and then went back to the experiment.

Jess heard Erica talking to Allison in a threatening way causing her to walk over to the girl, extending her claws and slamming her hand on Erica's shoulder. "Problem here?" she asked seeing Erica with her claws out on Allison's leg. Jess pulled Erica out of the seat as the bell rang and looked at her with yellow eyes. "If I were you, I'd stay away from her and Lydia." She growled as she took a seat next to Allison. "Thanks." She said to Jess. "No problem."

"If you've done the experiment correctly, you now should have a crystal." Mr. Harris announced. Allison pulled out the crystal and Jess examined it when a strong scent caught her attention. She looked up and saw the Kanima venom dripping off of the crystal. "Allison!" Jess said in a loud whisper. She motioned for her to look at Lydia who Scott and Stiles were both looking at. She raised the crystal to her lips when Scott stepped in. "Lydia!" he called out. She turned towards him. "What?" she asked. All eyes were on Scott and he didn't know what to say. "Nothing…" he said. Then Lydia turned back to her crystal and held it up to her mouth, examining it before taking a hard bite. Scott and everyone else watched as nothing happened to Lydia, despite the fact that the crystal was dripping with Kanima venom.

After the class, Stiles, Jess, Scott, and Allison gathered in a private part of school to talk about what to do with Lydia.

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia." Scott told the group, walking into the room. "Waiting to kill her?" Allison questioned.

"If he thinks she's the Kanima then yes." Scott confirmed. "Especially after what happened at the pool."

"It's not her." Stiles declared.

"Stiles, she didn't pass the test, nothing happened." Jess reminded him.

"It can't be her."

"It doesn't matter because Derek thinks it's her." Allison interjected. "So we either find a way to prove it's not her or find a way to protect her."

"Well he's not gonna do anything here, not at school." Scott pointed out.

"What about after school?" Allison questioned. Everyone sighed and rolled their heads. "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?" Allison asked.

"By three o clock?" Stiles responded.

"Maybe there's something in the beastiary." Allison said.

"You mean the nine hundred page book written in Archae Latin none of us can read? Good luck with that." Stiles said. "Actually I think I know someone who can translate it." Allison said. "I can talk to Derek." Jess said. "Things are better right now, maybe he'll listen."

"I'll go with you." Scott said. "But if anything happens, you guys let me and Jess handle it, okay?" Allison gave him a confused look. "What does that mean?" she questioned. "You can't heal like me and Jess. I don't want you getting hurt." Scott explained. Allison rolled her eyes and pulled something out of her bag… a handheld crossbow. She held it up and gave Scott a serious look. "I can protect myself." She told him. Scott looked around and then at the ground as Allison set her crossbow down. "What?" she asked. "Did something else happen?"

Scott gave her a hurt look. "I just don't want you getting hurt." He told her. "Seriously if anything goes wrong you call me, okay? I don't care if your dad finds out, call, text, scream, yell, whatever I'll hear and find you as fast as I can…we have until three." Scott said to Allison. She nodded and he and Jess turned towards the door, but then Scott pushed Jess to the side, turned and stopped the arrow from hitting her by catching is fist in h. He looked at Stiles who was holding the crossbow and Allison rolled her eyes. "Ahh." Stiles said, handing Allison the crossbow. "Sorry…sensitive trigger."

Jess walked out with Scott to the lacrosse field where Boyd was waiting. "We want to talk to Derek." Scott said as the pair approached. "Talk to me." Boyd suggested. "We don't wanna fight." Jess informed him. "Good." He said. "Because I'm twice the size of the both of you."

"True." Jess agreed. "Very true… but you're a beta."

"And what are you? I know you aren't an alpha." Boyd replied.

"Also true, but I'm almost as strong as one."

Boyd gave her a look and lunged at her, but she grabbed him, throwing him on the ground. "She failed the test." A suddenly appeared Derek said. "We know, but Lydia's different." Scott said. "You're right, at night she turns into a homicidal walking snake." Derek said.

"We aren't gonna let you kill her." Jess said. Derek looked at her. "We're really going back to being on different sides again?" he questioned, his voice still tense like before. "If your side includes murdering and innocent girl then yes." She said.

"Who said I was going to kill her?" Derek questioned the pair.

Scott and Jess looked at the school, knowing Erica and Isaac were going to be the ones to do Derek's dirty work. Scott went to run, but Boyd knocked Scott on his ass. Jess reacted by turning on one foot and kicking Boyd across the face, sending him backwards. She turned back to Scott who was holding his chest and coughing as she pulled him up to his feet. "I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, but even so Lydia has killed people and she'll do it again and next time it'll be one of us." Derek said.

"But what if you're wrong?" Jess asked.

"She was bitten by an alpha, it's her." Derek reminded her.

"You saw that thing up close you know it's not like us."

"But it is! We're all shape shifters! You don't know what you're dealing with. It happens rarely and it happens for a reason."

"What reason?" Scott asked.

"The shape you take resembles the person you are." Derek explained. "Even Stiles calls her cold-blooded."

"What if she's immune?" Jess asked. "What if she has something inside of her that makes her immune to the bite which is why she didn't get paralyzed?"

"No one's immune." Derek said. "Never seen it or heard of it…it's never happened."

"And what about Jackson?" she questioned. Derek fell silent.

"That's why you tested him isn't it? Because you gave him what he wanted didn't you?"

"Scott." Derek interrupted. "Peter said the bite either kills you or turns you. You were probably hoping he'd die, but nothing happened right?" Scott questioned. Just then Scott turned back and took off to the school, leaving Jess with Derek and Boyd. She looked at them for a moment, specifically at Derek with a disappointed expression before rushing off to find Lydia and the others.

Jess arrived at Scott's house just as Isaac threw Allison and Stiles on the ground. Her eyes went yellow and the claws came out as she ran at Isaac and knocked him on his ass. She turned to Allison and she was surprised at seeing Jess in wolf form. "Find Lydia." Jess told her. Allison nodded and rushed upstairs to her. Jess turned to Stiles who was pushing himself back on the rug and then she looked at Isaac who was just getting up. She let out a roar and charged at him, pinning him to the wall. "Think about what you're doing." She growled. Isaac head butted her causing her to step backwards a few steps. Isaac walked towards her and hit her across the face with his hard fist. She regained her stance and punched Isaac twice before kicking him into the wall. "Guys…it's here!" she heard Allison yell, informing them that the Kanima was now there.

Isaac let out a growl and went for Jess again, but she jumped up, spinning around with one leg out, kicking Isaac across the face. He stumbled back and she took this as an opening and hit him across the face twice before pinning him to the wall and grabbing him by the hair and slamming his head into the wall…hard. Then he dropped to the floor and Jess kicked him again. "Ass." She said. Then she saw Scott coming down the stairs with Erica who wasn't moving. She half smiled seeing the arrow with dripping venom in her hand. Jess picked up Isaac and kicked the front door open throwing Isaac out to Derek's feet as Scott threw Erica. Then the two along with Stiles and Allison stepped onto the porch proudly.

Derek looked at the two omegas and spoke his next line firmly. "I'm beginning to realize why you two keep refusing me." he said. "You now omegas, you're already alphas of your own pack…but you know you can't beat me."

"We can hold you off until the cops get here." Scott said. Derek looked at where the sounds of sirens were coming from when a familiar hissing sound caught everyone's attention. The group stepped off the porch and looked up at the roof where they saw the familiar reptilian creature crawling across the roof. It looked at them and let out a loud scream before taking off. Jess looked over at Derek who looked pissed off more than ever. Then he looked down at his betas and told Boyd to get them out of there. Then Lydia stepped out onto the porch, shocking everyone. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" she demanded. Scott looked up and Jess looked back at Derek. "It's Jackson." Scott said.


	6. Fighting Hearts

Once everyone gathered what happened, Derek took off after the Kanima. Jess touched her necklace that Derek gave her that morning and looked at Scott with a look that meant she couldn't risk Derek getting hurt. He nodded and she took off at full werewolf speed towards the direction Derek went.

She caught up quickly and looked at Derek. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Helping you, you can't fight this thing alone." She told him.

"I'm an alpha."

"And that thing is like an alpha times two."

Derek didn't say anything as the two soon approached a fence. Derek climbed up and flipped over the top, landing on his feet in full wolf. Jess jumped onto the fence and jumped off the top farther than where Derek landed, looking back at him in full wolf, teeth and all. Then she took off towards the Kanima with Derek close behind.

The pair ended up under a bridge and stopped. "He's close…I can smell him." Jess said. Then the two heard a noise behind them and quickly turned, coming face to face with the Kanima. Derek let out a growl and Jess looked at him once until turning her attention fully on the Kanima. Derek charged at it and got into a fist fight with it until got hit across the face and stumbled back. Jess saw this as an opportunity and she charged at it, sending it into the wall. Jess pulled Derek up as the Kanima charged at the pair and Jess pushed Derek to the side as she got hit across the face, sending her sliding across the ground.

When she picked her head up, Derek was flipping off of the Kanima and landed on all fours. Then he went to punch the creature and ended up punching a whole in the stone when it ducked. Then the Kanima grabbed Derek around the mid-section and pushed him with full force down causing the alpha to roll on the ground. Jess shot up and charged at the Kanima, tackling it onto the cement as she rolled across the ground and then got up on all fours as did the creature. It looked at her with a killer look, and Jess was ready to attack when Derek hit it with a busted off car door. The creature turned its attention to him and slashed its claws at the door which Derek had held in front of him.

The creature pushed him into the wall and let out a loud hiss. Jess got up and pulled the Kanima off of Derek, throwing it across the ground as Derek threw the car door to the side.

The Kanima climbed up to the bottom of the bridge and the two werewolves looked up at it, letting out growls when sparks shot out everywhere. The Kanima fell back to the ground and grabbed Derek by the jacket, throwing him down. Then he hit Jess across the face, sending her flying across the ground. She picked her head up and saw Chris Argent firing rounds into the Kanima causing it to collapse to the ground. He walked past the creature and looked around to see where Derek was. Then Jess saw the Kanima get up and get ready to attack Chris. She quickly got up and tackled the Kanima onto the cement. Not once looking at Chris, she took off to where Derek ran off to.

Jess followed Derek to the abandoned railroad house where they went downstairs to find Isaac sitting on a crate next to Erica and Boyd leaning against the train car. "What is _she_ doing here?" Isaac hissed. Derek took Jess's hand in his so his betas would get the hint and walked into the train car with her. "Alright, how do we kill this thing?" Derek asked, leaning in the door way in front of her. "You think I know?" she asked. "I only know one story of this thing that came to mind after I got a good look at it."

"What was the story?" Derek asked.

"There was a village centuries ago in Ireland…there were people being murdered and attacked by something described as a monster with dark, cool green scales and slit yellow eyes created by Satin himself. No one ever noticed the paralysis detail because all the victims were found dead." Jess explained.

"Well they had to have killed it." Derek said. Jess shook her head. "The thing is the creature killed ten victims, all responsible or connected to a family murder case. Once the ten victims were dead, it never killed again."

Derek punched the wall, leaving a dent. Jess stood up and walked closer to him. "Listen, I don't know how to kill it, but there has to at least be a way to slow it down." she suggested. "Like drug it?" Derek questioned. Jess nodded. "Would it work?" he asked.

"It might." Jess responded.

Derek looked at her and then at her necklace he gave her earlier that morning. He looked at the symbol momentarily before glancing back at Jess's face. "Go home." He said. "Get some rest and we'll figure out the rest tomorrow."

Jess grabbed Derek's hand. "You're the one who needs rest." Derek looked at their links hands and then back at Jess. He pulled her a little closer to him. He had the urge to kiss her on the lips, but instead kissed her forehead and squeezed her hand a little. "Get home safe." He whispered. She looked at him and then walked away, not letting go of his hand until she was too far to hold it anymore.

She stepped out of the train and had three pairs of eyes on her. Walking out without a word, Jess reached her car and drove home in silence.

When she got home, she peeled her clothes off and pulled on a XXL sweatshirt that went down to above knees and pulled her hair out of the bun. She ran a brush through the tangles first washing her face and brushing her teeth. Back in her room she crawled underneath her sheets and fell asleep within minutes.

An hour after falling asleep Jess heard the window open, immediately knowing it was Derek since he always came in through the window and she could smell his scent. She heard him walk around to the other side of the bed, taking his jacket off and kicking his shoes off. Then he crawled under the sheets and wrapped and arm around her waist. "Derek?" she asked tiredly. "Go back to sleep." He whispered as he pressed his body to her back and tightened the hold on her. She rested her hand on his and then fell asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

_**JESS'S DREAM**_

___She was standing there, the thief pointing the gun at the movie store clerk and he pulled the trigger, shooting the clerk in the chest causing him to collapse onto the ground. Her dad jumped on the perp and fought to get the gun from his hand. The robber hit her dad in the face and he fell to the ground. The robber held the gun to her dad's chest. "No!" she yelled. But the robber pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into her father's chest._

Jess napped her eyes open and let out a shake breath, waking Derek immediately. "Jess, what's wrong?" he asked, regaining a tight grip on her waist that was relaxed before. She shook her head. "Nothing…it's nothing." She said. Derek rolled her onto her back. "Please tell me…" he almost begged. Jess let out a breath. "I keep seeing my father getting killed in that video store…" she told Derek. He gave her a sympathetic look. "I just stood there and watched it happen…" Jess's eyes began getting watery and Derek didn't know what to say. Instead he just slipped his arms around her and rolled onto his back, laying like that as Jess began to cry silently in his arms.

After a few minutes, the tears stopped and Jess's body relaxed all together. Derek looked down at her and saw she fell back to sleep. He kissed her head and readjusted his hold on her as he closed his eyes, falling asleep with her in his arms.


	7. Lost Fights

The next morning, Derek awoke to Jess still asleep in his arms and looked at clock. It was six in the morning and he knew Jess had to get up for school. "Jess." He whispered, gently shaking her. "Hmm." She sounded. Derek smiled. "You have to get up." He said. Jess opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of Derek. She looked at her clock and saw it was time to get up for school. She groaned as she crawled out of bed and walked to the bathroom

Once she went through her morning routine, dressing in a dark red dress and black pantyhose she began to do her make-up. Derek sat at her desk and watched as she did her make-up and put on her necklace he gave her before pulling on her jacket and grabbing her bag. "I have to go." She said walking over. Derek stood up. "I'll see you later today." He said. She kissed him on the lips and then walked from her room and down to her car.

Upon getting in her car, Jess got a text from Stiles. It read:

_Meet me in the reserve. You can use your werewolf scent to find me _

Jess rolled her eyes and tossed her phone in the passenger seat. She rolled down her window and trailed Stiles's scent to a place far in the Beacon Hills Reserve. She saw Scott, Allison, and Stiles standing around a police van and picked up Jackson's scent. She parked her car and stepped out. "What's going on, I go home last night and now you have Jackson locked up in a police van?" she questioned walking over. "Last night, Jackson invaded a club last night and hospitalized eight people including Danny." Scott updated her. "Anything else?" she asked. "Danny said something about restoring a video for Jackson and the tablet it was on is gone." Scott explained. "And if Jackson doesn't remember being the Kanima he isn't going to remember stealing the tablet."

"Why would he steal it if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles interjected.

"What if someone else took it?" Allison suggested. "Then somebody knows what he is." Stiles declared. "And that's someone protecting him." Scott added. "Just like the beastiary says, the Kanima seeks a friend, right?" Jess said.

"Okay wait so someone watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the Kanima and then erases part of it so he wouldn't know, who would do that?" Stiles questioned.

"Someone who wants to protect him." Jess answered. "Wait you said you saw something online that the Kanima only goes after murderers or criminals right? What if that's actually true?" Scott suggested.

"No that can't be it tried killing all of us remember?" Stiles reminded them. "And I don't know about you three but I haven't murdered anyone lately.

"I don't think it was actually trying to kill us." Scott said. "Remember when we were at Isaac's the first time, it just went right by us. And it didn't kill you in the mechanics garage."

"Yeah but it tried killing Derek, Jess, and me in the pool." Stiles pointed out. "No, I wasn't even in the water and it didn't even bother with me." Jess reminded him.

"But what if it was waiting for us to come out?" Stiles asked.

"What if it was trying to keep you in?"

"Why do I suddenly feel violated?" Stiles questioned.

"Because there's something else going on and we don't know what it is or what's going on with Jackson or why someone's protecting him." Scott told the three.

"Know thy enemy." Allison phrased. The other three looked at her. "Just something my grandfather said."

"Alright I got it, kill Jackson problem solved." Stiles said. The other three looked at him. "He risked his life for us against Peter remember that?" Scott reminded him.

"Yes but what did we just find out? He got the bite from Derek. It's funny how he got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us." Stiles pointed out.

"It doesn't mean he's not worth saving." Jess said. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

"So what?"

"So neither did we." Scott reminded Stiles. "You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson?" Scott asked Allison. She nodded. "And you tried killing Derek?" Jess nodded. "We had someone to stop us, he has nobody." Jess said.

"That's his own fault." Stiles said. "It doesn't matter." Scott said. "If we can save him, we should try."

Later that night, Allison and Scott remained stationed at Jackson watch while Stiles went to talk to Lydia. Jess decided to head home.

Once home, her mom was already in bed and headed up to her bedroom where she found Derek sitting on the edge of her bed. "Hey." He greeted. "Hi." She replied going over to her desk and sitting in the chair. "The full moon is coming up, do you think you'll be alright?" he asked. "Not to sound cliché but I think if I'm around you, I'll be fine." She answered. "Well I'll need some help with the others." He stated.

"Three freshly turned betas should be really fun, especially when two of them haven't experienced a full moon yet." She smirked. Derek half smiled. "Yeah, don't remind me, I've already showed them what I'll have to lock them up with."

Jess kicked her shoes off and walked over to Derek, standing in front of him. "I think we should take a break from the super natural for a minute." She said. Derek looked up at Jess and put his hands on her waist as she rested hers on his shoulders. "Really?" he asked. "Mm Hm." She sounded. "And what do you suggest we talk about?" he asked. "I say we don't talk at all." She whispered, leaning down and kissing him. Derek wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto the bed on top of him.

The next day at school, Jess was in a happier than usual mood and went about her normal school day. She turned in assignments and got new ones, took a few quizzes and a test and then it was her free period. She sat in the hall and read her honors English book quietly as her thoughts wandered to Derek when a rapied heart beat caught her attention… Allison's rapid heartbeat. She shot up stuffed the book into her bag before taking off down the hall where she was joined by Scott. "Locker room." She said.

The pair burst into the locker room where they found Allison on the ground and Jackson pulling on a pair of shorts. "Oh boy." Jess said "I'm fine." Allison lied. "Scott I'm fine!" Scott put on a killer look and charged at Jackson, pushing him into the lockers and sending him on his ass. "I have a restraining order!" Jackson reminded him. "Trust me, I've restrained myself." Scott told him. Jess went over to Allison and pulled her up to her feet and took her over to the door. "Stay here." Jess told the human as Jackson slammed Scott into the other lockers and then throwing him into the showers. Jess looked over, her eyes yellow and charged at Jackson, knocking him onto the ground.

He got up and grabbed Jess by the shirt and threw her into the stone wall and then returned to beat Scott who just got up. He grabbed Scott by the sweatshirt and slammed him into two walls before Jess got back up and pulled him off of Scott and throwing him on the ground. She went to pick him up by the neck, but Jackson grabbed and threw her into the stone wall, causing it to break with cracks.

Jackson walked towards Allison, but Scott jumped over the lockers and kicked Jackson I the back as he came down. Jess went over to Scott as Jackson reached for the weights and threw them their direction. Jess caught it and then held it in front of her only to be kicked into another wall and then thrown into the lockers across the room. Then she saw Scott get thrown down onto the sinks, breaking one into pieces causing water to go everywhere. Jess got up and jumped onto Jackson, head butting him and then being thrown out the locker room door into the hall where Stiles and Erica were. Stiles helped her up and then she pushed him back a few steps just as Scott and Jackson came tumbling out. Erica pulled Jackson off of Scott and Stiles helped up and held the two back.

"What the hell's going on?" Mr. Harris demanded walking down the hall to the scene. "Hey! Enough! Enough…Whadda you idiots think you're doing? Jackson! Calm down." he exclaimed. "Mr. McCall, do you want to explain yourself? Mr. Stillinski?"

"You dropped this…" Matt said to the group and Mr. Harris took it. "You and you." He said, pointing at Jackson and Scott. "Actually, all of you." He added, motioning towards everyone. "Detention, three o clock."

As ordered, everyone went to detention in the library at three and Scott, Stiles, and Jess sat with Erica. "I can't be in detention with them." Jackson told Mr. Harris. "I have a restraining order against these tools."

"All these tools?" Mr. Harris questioned. "No just us tools." Stiles confirmed. "Fine you two, over there." Mr. Harris said.

Everyone took their seats and remained silent for a few minutes before Jackson left stating he had to go to the bathroom, but Mr. Harris followed him out anyway. "No one leaves their seats." He said before walking out. That rule was quickly broken once he left the room when Scott and Stiles joined Erica and Jess, but Jess got up and went over to Allison and Matt's table. "Allison, can we talk?" she asked. She nodded and went over to the book case with her.

"What happened in the locker room with Jackson?" she asked. She shook her head. "He half yelled at me, but he was in a state like he didn't know what he was doing." She explained.

"Like when he's the Kanima?"

"Only he was still in human form, it was like the Kanima side came out while he was still human."

"Anything else?" Jess asked.

"No, but I think Matt sent himself the translated part of the beastiary to himself from the tablet."

"What makes you think that?"

"He was looking at his tablet, said the word Kanima and I saw the same page as the beastiary on the screen."

Just then, Jackson and Mr. Harris returned and Allison went back to her seat. Jess on the other hand remained standing and observed Matt. Then she saw Mr. Harris begin to pack up his things and figured detention was over so she went back to collect her things. She zipped her bag and went for the door when Mr. Harris laughed. "Oh I'm sorry yes I'm leaving, but none of you are." He said. "You may go when you're done with the reshelving… enjoy the rest of your evening." He said before walking out.

Jess stood with Erica in the one aisle reshelving as she updated her on Jackson. "So his parents died in a car crash and then he was taken out of his mom's dead body through a C-Section?" Jess asked. "Yup." Erica said, putting a book on the shelf. "That fits in with the Kanima myth then… if his parents were murdered and the car accident wasn't really an accident." Jess said. The two continued shelving books when something leaped across the top of the shelves, causing lights to go up in sparks and books to fall. "Erica!" Scott yelled. Erica had her canines out and her eyes were yellow as she turned around with a growl.

Jess and Erica stepped back when they heard a hissing sound behind them. Erica turned and pushed Jess in front of her and away from Jackson, taking the swipe to the back of the neck, paralyzing her from the neck down. "Jessica!" Scott yelled. Jess went to Erica's side just as the half transformed Jackson appeared and grabbed her by the shirt, flinging her across the library into the wall, knocking her out cold.

Scott, Allison, and Stiles watched as Jackson rote a message on the chalk board. It read:

STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU

Then he leaped out of the library through a window. The three walked closer to the chalk board and then Stiles noticed a shaking Erica on the ground and went over to her and picked her up in his lap. "Hey guys." He said. "I think she's having a seizure."

Allison went over to a paralyzed Matt while Stiles held Erica. Then Scott went over to Jess and picked her up and carried her over to the others. "He's alive." Allison informed the others on Matt's condition. "We need to get her to a hospital." Stiles reported. "D-Derek." Erica choked out. "Only Derek." She said. Scott looked at Allison. "When we get her to the hospital-" he began but was cut off by Erica saying she only wanted to go to Derek. "Go." Allison said. Scott went around to Allison, saying he wanted to stay with her, but she said she had to call an ambulance for Matt and Stiles couldn't take Erica to Derek by himself.

After a debate, Scott went around and picked up Erica. "Get Jess." Scott said. "Derek will want to know she's alright." Stiles picked up Jess who was completely out cold and luckily very light.

Once at the railroad house, Derek took Erica from Scott and told Stiles to lie Jess down on the ground. "Hold her up." Derek ordered Stiles once he put Jess down. "Is she dying?" he asked. "She might…I…. which is why this is going to hurt." He said, turning and breaking her arm as Erica cried out in pain. "A broken arm?" Stiles questioned. "It'll trigger the healing process." He explained. "I still have to get the venom out; this is where it's really gonna hurt." He said, twisting her arm causing blood to drip from Erica's arm and have her shriek in pain. Then she stopped crying in pain and fell back with Stiles. "Stiles…" she said. He looked at her. "You make a good Batman." Then Erica passed out.

Once the venom was out, he asked what was wrong with Jess. "She got thrown into a wall and got knocked out." Scott explained. Derek checked her pulse and felt that it was relatively slow. "No no no something's wrong." He said.

Derek opened up one of her eyes and saw her dilated pupils. "What happened to her today?" he asked.

"She and I got into a fight with Jackson in the locker room and she got thrown around pretty bad." Scott explained. Derek stood up. "How bad?" he questioned.

"Pretty bad..." Scott told him. "Then the last blow did it." Derek stated. "Her body had to go to sleep so it could heal…she'll be out for a while."

"You know who it is." Scott accused Derek as the two stepped out of the train. Derek stopped at a crate and leaned against it. "Jackson." He answered.

"You just wanted Erica to confirm it didn't you?" Scott questioned. Derek nodded. "I'm gonna help you stop him." Scott told him. "As part as your pack." Derek looked at him. "If you want me in fine, but we do it on one condition, we're gonna catch him, bot kill him." Scott told Derek who knew there was something more to be said. Scott looked up at him. "And we do it my way."

After Derek agreed to the terms, Scott left with Stiles and Jess was still out cold. He picked up her and carried her to the back room where he had an old bed set up. He laid her down on it and brushed the hair out of her face after pulling the blankets up on her. Then he sat down next to her on the bed, his back against the pillow and wall with his legs stretched out. He looked down at Jess who was wearing the necklace and flipped it over to see the engraving on the back Jess has yet to notice. The released the necklace and took Jess's hand in his before putting his head against the wall and closing his eyes, drifting off to sleep.


	8. Shivering Arguments

Derek woke up the late the next day to Jess already gone, but a note in place. He picked it up and read it.

_Derek,_

_I had to get home to my mom, but thanks for watching out for me last night. Meet Scott and I at the animal clinic tonight. We may know a way to stop Jackson._

_~Jess_

He put the note down and rubbed his eyes before pulling himself out of bed.

Back at Jess's house, Jess and her mom were in an argument about Jess's sudden school absences and late nights out. "Would you please explain this to me Jessica?" He mom demanded showing her the note from the vice principal. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"Mom, it's hard to explain…" Jess admitted.

"I am your mother Jessica and you can always tell me anything." Her mom pointed out.

"I know, but it's different."

"What's different?" her mom was tearing up at this point.

Jess shook her head and her eyes got teary. "Mom, me not telling you is the only thing keeping you safe." She cried.

"Safe from what Jessica?" her mom cried.

"Things I can't explain…"

Her mom stepped closer to her. "Jess please me what is going on." She begged. Jess shook her head. "I can't…" she told her mom before taking off outside and towards the woods.

Night fell over Beacon Hills and Scott was at the animal clinic and unlocked the door for Derek and Isaac. "What is he doing here?" Scott asked, wondering why Isaac was there. "I need him." Derek answered.

"I don't trust him." Scott told Derek.

"Yeah well he doesn't trust you either." Isaac said.

"Yeah and Derek really doesn't care, now where's the vet, is he gonna help us or not?" Derek asked.

"That depends." A voice said. The three werewolves looked at the door way to see Dr. Allen Deaton in the doorway. "Your friend Jackson, are we planning to kill him… or save him?"

"Save him." Scott said at the same time Derek said "Kill him." Scott looked at Derek. "SAVE him." He repeated, and then turned his attention to the vet. "Save him." He told him.

Dr. Deaton took the three back to the operation room and pulled out a thing that looked like a spice rack and set it on the table. Isaac reached his hand out to it, but Derek grabbed it. "Watch what you touch." He said. Dr. Deaton pulled out a jar and looked at its contents as Isaac leaned down on his elbows on the table. "So." He said. "What are you some kind of witch?" Dr. Deaton looked at him. "No." he denied. "I'm a veterinarian." He looked through the spices and then told Derek that there was nothing he had for a defense against a paralytic toxin.

"We're open to suggestions." Derek said. "What about an effective offense?" Isaac questioned. "We already tried." Derek pointed out. "I nearly took his head off, and Argent emptied an entire clip into it, but the thing just gets back up."

"Does it show any weaknesses?" Deaton asked.

"One, it can't swim." Derek told him.

"Does that go for Jackson as well?"

"No." Scott told him. "He's captain of the swim team."

"Essentially you're trying to catch people." Deaton said. Then he turned around and pulled something out of his drawers and held a small object that looked like a token with the design of a man sitting in the middle. "A puppet." Deaton said. "And a puppeteer….one killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife, do we know why?" He questioned.

"I don't think Jackson could do it." Scott told him. "I mean his mother died pregnant, too and she was maybe murdered, I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

"How do you know it's not part of the rules?" Isaac questioned. "Kanimas kill murderers, if Jackson kills the wife, then the baby dies, too."

"Does that mean the father was a murderer?" Scott asked. "Wouldn't surprise me if he was." Isaac said.

A quick silence fell before Dr. Deaton told them to hold on. "The book says they're bonded right?" Deaton asked Derek who nodded. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson, but the person controlling him?" he suggested. "What if…" he said pulling out a one of the jars from the rack. "Something that effects the Kanima…also effects its master." He explained, pouring a dark powder around the token on the table.

"Meaning what?" Isaac asked.

"Meaning we can catch them." Scott answered. Deaton nodded. "Both of them. Scott said. Derek looked at Scott and then around the room. "Wait…" he said. "Where's Jess?" The other three looked at him. "I thought she was with you today." Scott said.

"She left to go home before I woke up." Derek said.

"Well she wasn't in school today…" Isaac informed his alpha.

"Then where is she?" Derek asked sternly. Everyone looked at one another for a few seconds silently causing Derek to take off outside. "Derek!" Scott called out running out the door. The alpha turned towards him and gave him a hard look. "We'll find her, just give it a minute." Scott said.

"We don't have a minute!" Derek half yelled. "With Gerard here with vengeance on his mind he'll kill any werewolf that gets in his way."

"Try calling her." Scott suggested. Derek pulled his phone out and dialed her number quickly, then raising the phone to his ear. He heard it ring several times before it went to her voicemail. _Hey you've reached Jessica Cadwell, this is my voicemail so you know what to do, bye! _The voicemail played.

Derek tried calling her a few more times with no luck and began sending her text after text. "Look let's try tracking her by scent." Isaac suggested. "She's gotta still be in the area."

The wolves did just that. Scott, Isaac, and Derek all piled into Derek's car while they had Stiles drive around the Beacon Hills area to see if he could find her anywhere.

Stiles was driving past the graveyard to look at the coffee shop when he saw a dark figure illuminated by the street light. He stopped the jeep and got out to get a closer look at the person sitting in front of the gravestone. He quietly walked up behind the person and saw the gravestone had Alexander Cadwell written on it.

"Jess?" Stiles said quietly. The black haired girl turned her head revealing her blue eyes that were red and puffy with tears running out of them. "Jess what's wrong?" Stiles asked going over and sitting by her. "My mom…all the lies are catching up to me…." she explained. "She wants to know what's been going on with me and I just can't tell her…I can't risk her getting hurt or get exposed to this world…" more tears began running down her cheeks. Stiles put a comforting arm around her.

"I know it's hard…" Stiles began.

"Hard?" Jess questioned. "It is killing me to have to lie to her but I know if I do tell her she'll never look at me the same. How do you tell your mom you're a werewolf who is in a relationship with an alpha werewolf and one of your closest friends is a werewolf oh and right now we are in a small battle with a giant walking reptile called a Kanima?"

"Yeah that could be a lot to process…" Stiles agreed. Jess looked back at the gravestone and read her dad's name in her head. "He used to be able to help me with anything…" she said. "It seemed like he always had the answers to every problem I had…I could really use his help now."

Just then Stiles phone began buzzing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was Scott. "Yeah?" Stiles greeted as he answered the phone and put it to his ear.

"Any luck?" Scott asked.

"Yeah we're at the cemetery." Stiles replied.

"We'll be there in a minute."

The call ended and Stiles looked at Jess. "You really scared Derek." He informed her. "He thought you were taken by the hunters."

"I know, but I needed to be alone." Jess explained. "It just was all piling up."

"I get that, but Derek being in a normal mood is scary. I don't even want to imagine him angry…"

Just then a pair of headlights came into sight and Derek's Camaro came speeding down the street. "I am going to be feeling Derek's wrath in a minute…" Jess groaned. The car stopped in the street and Derek got out of the car quickly with an angry expression on his face as he approached Jess and Stiles. The two stood up as the angry alpha approached who stopped in front of Jess. "Where the hell have you been today?" he asked angrily, not noticing her red, puffy eyes.

"I'll give you two some privacy." Stiles said backing away towards Scott who was just approaching.

Jess stayed silent for a moment. "I just needed to be by myself for a little bit." She eventually explained.

"Do you know how dangerous that is? Especially with Gerard here?" Derek questioned.

"Look I'm sorry, okay? I had a fight with my mom and needed to be alone." Jess snapped back.

"You could have at least told someone where you were."

"I've been here!" Jess half yelled. "Sitting at my father's grave crying because while my mom is worrying about me and completely in the dark of what is going on with me I am lying to her about everything! Where I am, who I'm with…all because I am trying to keep her safe. So don't stand here and get angry with me Derek because now is NOT the time!"

"Are you forgetting the fact that Gerard is here with reinforcements to take down any werewolf that poses a threat to them?"

"I said now isn't the time." Jess said as she pushed past Derek and walked to her car.

Derek turned and watched as she walked past Stiles and Scott to her car. "Jess!" he called out to her, but she ignored him. "Jessica!" She got into her car and sped off down the road at full speed.

Upon arriving at her house, Jess found her mom waiting for her at the kitchen counter. "Where have you been?" she asked turning to face her daughter. "I went to a friend's house." Jess lied. "Sorry I didn't call."

"I have to get to the hospital." Jess's mom said standing up and walking past her daughter. "Mom..." Jess choked. Her mom turned towards her. "I'm sorry, I really am." Jess apologized.

"Honey I don't know what you want me to say. It just feels like I'm losing you, just like I lost your father." With that that said, Jess's mom walked out the front door and left for work, leaving her daughter there with tears now falling down her cheeks.

Derek stood in Jess's room listening to the conversation between her and her mom's conversation. He felt like such an ass now for fighting with her. At first he felt the urge to leave, but then he heard her begin to cry and he hated when girl's cried. Especially someone he really cared about. Instead of taking off out the window, he stood in the center of her room and listened to her footsteps come up the stairs which then came down the hallway. The door opened and she walked in with tears running down her cheeks. As she looked up, the tears stopped and anger replaced the sadness.

"You heard that right?" she questioned angrily as she stepped into the room. "My own mother thinks I am as absent from her as my DEAD FATHER!" Derek stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at her, letting her let the anger out on him. "The ONE person in that I care about MOST in my life probably can't even look me in the eye anymore because all I am doing is LYING TO HER!" Derek stayed quiet as Jess took two steps closer to him. "Everything I am telling her is A LIE. The only person in my family I talk to and trust and love unconditionally can't trust me because everything I say or do is A GOD DAMN LIE!" Derek could see the anger fading and being replaced by sadness as tears filled her eyes again. "It's just lie after lie…" she finished, letting the tears come out again. Derek walked over to her as the tears fell out her eyes and he wrapped his arms around her. At first she tried to get out of his grip, but he refused to let go of her. After a few seconds though she stopped fighting it and just sobbed into his jacket, letting all the sadness out.


	9. Never Alone

The next morning Derek awoke in Jess's bed lying with his front pressed against Jess's back as she slept soundly in his arms. She was still wearing the clothes from yesterday with her make-up smeared on her face from crying and her hair a tangled mess. He looked over at the clock and saw it was almost time for her to get up for school, but he didn't want her to get up. He wanted her to stay right here all day in his arms. Tightening his hold on her, he kissed her head and moved closer to her. "Hm." She sounded. _Damn it_ Derek thought. "What time is it?" she asked, not opening her eyes.

"Early." Derek said. Jess opened her eyes and looked at the clock. It was just about six which meant time to get up. Jess tried to get out of Derek's grip, but she couldn't. "I have this place called school to get to." She reminded Derek. "Take a sick day." He groaned. "You deserve a day off."

"It's school and I have to talk to Scott and Stiles anyway so…release." Derek hesitantly let go and Jess got up out of bed, slipping her shirt off as she walked towards the bathroom. This caught Derek's attention and watched as she walked off into the bathroom.

After a hot shower, Jess went back out to her room where Derek still laid in bed with his head on the pillows. _When was the last time he slept?_ Jess thought to herself. Excusing it, she went over to her closet and pulled out a grey V-neck and dark skinny jeans as well as her black boots and jacket. Once she was dressed and did her make-up, she didn't need to be at school for another thirty five-minutes so she went over to the bed where Derek laid asleep and crawled underneath the sheets again into his arms. He made a sound of approval and tightened his hold on her, pulling her close to him like before.

Closing her eyes, Jess dozed off again from the warmth of the blankets and Derek's arms wrapped around her making her not wanting to ever get up. But the time eventually came when the clock turned to seven o'clock and she had to depart from school. From the sound of Derek's breathing he was asleep so Jess carefully removed his arms from her and got up, kissing his head and grabbing her backpack before exiting the room.

At her bedroom door, Jess turned to look at Derek and realized how tired he was. Has he really not been sleeping lately? _Maybe one day wouldn't hurt… _Jess thought to herself, dropping her backpack to the ground and taking her hat off. She closed the door quietly and slipped her jacket off as she walked over to her closet. Undressing out of what she was wearing and redressing in a pair of cotton shorts and a long sleeved shirt, Jess then tied her hair up in a messy bun and used a tissue to wipe her make-up off. Once she was done, she crawled back under the sheets into Derek's muscular arms and smiled when his grip tightened on her. "You're staying?" he asked tiredly.

"One day won't hurt." She quoted with a smile. He chuckled quietly and kissed her head as he pulled her close to him again.

Jess and Derek spent a majority of the day in each other's arms. Jess fell asleep until noon, but Derek was still fast asleep…as if he hasn't slept for weeks. Every time Jess moved in the slightest, he would readjust his grip to make sure she was still there. When she got up to use the bathroom, she came back out to see him awake and looking around the room until his eyes landed on her. As soon as he saw her, relief showed on his face and Jess walked back over to the bed, returning into Derek's arms.

As time moved forward to the afternoon, Derek knew he had to go back to the railroad to talk to his betas about the Rave tonight, but didn't want to get up. For an entire day it was just him and Jess laying in each other's arms with no worries or fears of getting an arrow in their throats, being killed by an oversized reptile, or anything in general.

When four o'clock hit, Derek's phone started going off meaning it was his betas wondering where he was. "I should go…" he groaned into the pillow. "No you shouldn't…" Jess replied. He chuckled.

"I know, but I have to." He said slipping his arms off away from Jess and getting up. He picked his shirt up off the ground and pulled it on along with his shoes and jacket. Jess stood up and walked over to him. "I should take more days off…" she told him running her hands up his hard chest to her shoulders. He gave her an all teeth smile. "You should." He agreed leaning down to kiss her. She slid her arms around his neck as his went around her back and pulled her closer to him. She moved her lips with his and eventually bit his bottom lip gently making him smile a little until he finally pulled back. "I'll see you tonight." He told her walking towards the window. "Seriously the door!" she joked.

"You're mom just got home. Guess you were too distracted to hear that." He teased jumping out the window.

A little while later at the railroad house, Derek was talking to Boyd with his arms crossed when the sound of clicking shoes caught their attention. They turned their heads to the stairs as a dolled up and sexy looking Jessica walked down them. Derek turned and dropped his arms when he saw her long lean legs in the heels and short dress. "Woah." Boyd said. Derek looked at him with a look that clearly showed anger. "What?" his beta questioned. "Hey." Jess greeted. "I am heading to the Rave, but I wanted to see what you were doing."

"Boyd and I are going to be right out back to make sure everything goes according to plan and for back up if the Argents show up." Derek told her, trying not to look at her chest. "I'll be in the warehouse with Scott. If anything happens come and get me." She said, turning and walking back up the stairs.

At her car, Jess was about to get in when Derek called her name. "Jess!" he called. She smiled to herself and turned around. "Yeah?" she asked.

"Be careful tonight." He told her.

"I always am." She said. Derek nodded and turned to leave, but Jess grabbed his hand. He turned back towards Jess as she stepped towards him, pressing her lips to his. Instead of a passionate, loving kiss like the werewolves normally shred, it was hot and heavy. Derek out his hands on her back and ran them up and down as her arms locked around his neck.

After almost thirty seconds, Jess finally pulled back from Derek for some much needed air. "Be careful." She told him before kissing him once more quickly before getting in her car and driving to the Rave.

At the abandoned warehouse where the rave was, Jess went around back to where Scott and Stiles were. "No not here not now!" she heard Scott say as she approached him said before he ran into the warehouse. "What is it?" Jess asked Stiles. "I don't know, but you get inside to see if you can find Jackson. If you do, keep him inside." He told her. She nodded and walked inside the warehouse.

Inside, the music was blaring and people were dancing on the floor causing Jess to doubt she'd find Jackson. She walked through a group of people when she saw Isaac and Erica moving across the dance floor towards her. She looked around and then saw Jackson moving towards her.

She was about to move in on him when Isaac and Erica got to him and seduced him with Erica in-between the boys, kissing Jackson and Isaac. Just then , the sound of guns being cocked got Jess's attention. Then she heard gun fire going off when Jackson jammed his claws into Erica and Isaac. She rushed over and grabbed the syringe before helping Isaac up. "Get him to the back immediately. I have to go help Derek." She ordered him as she handed him the needle. He nodded and walked off towards Jackson as Jess rushed towards the exit.

Jess tracked Derek's scent to the back of the warehouse and found him and Boyd pinned down by hunters. Jess slipped off her jacket and kicked off her heels as she extended her claws and canines before stepping into the open and letting out a roar at the hunters. She ran to the one hiding behind a wall and kicked him back onto his ass and he hit his head on the cement, knocking him out. Then she turned around and saw one of the other hunters aim their gun at her. She roared and charged at him, tackling him on the ground and bashing his head on the ground. The third hunter came up from behind and grabbed her from behind, but she shook to break free. When she couldn't, she bashed her head on his. As he stumbled back, Jess turned and kicked him across the face casuing him to fall to the ground.

Chris Argent ran off towards the warehouse and Jess looked at the dumpster where Derek was getting up. "Thanks…" he panted. Jess gave him a smile before walking back to the warehouse with him, picking up her jacket and heels on the way.

The two found Stiles at the exit/entrance and watched as people flooded out. "Uh so we kinda lost Jackson inside, but uh.-"Stiles began, but then the three noticed Isaac and Erica stopping short and looking at the mountain ash barrier around the building. "Oh my god it's working!" Stiles said. "Oh my this is so…I did something." Just then Derek and Jess heard a cry for help roar. "Scott." Derek said. "What?" Stiles asked. "Break it!" Jess ordered. "What, no way!" Stiles denied.

"Scott's dying!" Derek said.

"Wait what? How do you know that?" Stiles asked.

"Stiles we just know now break it!" Derek yelled.

Stiles got down on his knees and broke the seal, causing Jess and Derek to take off inside, but Jess was stopped short by a worker. "You have to leave young lady." He said. "I know I just have to get my friend." She told him. "I'm sorry, you have to leave." The man said, ushering her out. Jess went back over to Stiles where she waited anxiously for Derek and Scott.

After a few minutes, Derek finally came out with Scott in his arms

"Is he alright?" Jess asked as Derek took him over to his car. "We have to get him to Deaton;." Derek said putting Scott in the backseat and closing the door. "Argent's mom tried killing him with wolf's bane." He went around to the driver's side and Jess got in the passenger's side as Derek started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

Once at the animal clinic, Jess hurried in with Scott and put him on the operation table as Deaton walked in. Derek slumped down in the chair near the table and pulled his sleeve up revealing a long deep cut which Jess quickly noticed. As Deaton worked on Scott, Jess went over to the cabinets and pulled out anti-septic wipes and bandages. She walked over to Derek and crouched down next to him with one hand extended. Derek half smiled and handed her his arm. She wiped the blood from his skin and bandaged the wound, completely unaware his eyes were on her and only her.

Dr. Deaton watched Jess care for Derek and saw the look in his eyes as Derek watched Jess. There was something in his eyes the way he looked at her and when Deaton put it together he was surprised as well as shocked.

Once Deaton finished with Scott, he woke up and both Jess and Derek thanked him for saving Scott from the wolf's bane poisoning. Jess went over to him messed with his hair which got a smile out of him. She looked back at Derek and then at Scott. That's when she finally figured out the symbol on her necklace.


	10. Promise By Symbol

Once Scott regained his strength, he, Derek, and Jess left the clinic to drive back to the railroad house. During the ride, Derek noticed Jess's silence and inability to make eye contact with him, but didn't know what was wrong.

Upon entering the train, Derek was telling the other two they needed a new plan because next time something like the warehouse incident happens again, one of them will be too hurt to heal. "I get it." Scott said. "We can't save Jackson."

"We can't seem to kill him either." Derek added. "I've seen a lot of things Scott, but I've never seen something like this…and every move will make him stronger."

"Then how do we stop him?" Scott asked.

"I don't know." Derek told him. "I don't even know if we can."

"Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it…" Jess interjected.

"I'm the one who turned him." Derek reminded them. "It's my fault."

"Yeah, but you didn't turn him into this." Jess said, sitting next to him. "This is something that happened in his past, right?" Scott asked

"That's a legend in a book it's not that simple." Derek told her.

"What do you mean what aren't you telling me?" Scott questioned.

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?"

"Because you always are keeping something from me!"

"Well maybe I do it to protect you."

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?"

"Go home Scott." Derek said. "Sleep, heal, make sure your friends are safe. Because the full moon is coming and with the way things are going…I gotta feeling it's gonna be a rough one."

After that, Scott left, leaving Jess and Derek alone in the train. "I'm gonna go, too." Jess told him standing up. Derek grabbed her hand as she walked by him. "You haven't said anything since we left the clinic." He noted. "Is everything alright?"

Jess turned towards him. "The necklace," she stated. "It means that I was never an omega and never will be because I've always had you… and always will." Derek stood up. "That's right." He said.

"So all those times we were on opposite sides or fighting…"

"You could have still come to me and I'd help you and protect you." Derek told her. Jess wrapped her arms around him and he hugged her back…tight. "Thank you." She whispered. Then she pulled back and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow." She said stepping off the train. Once Jess left, she picked her car up at the warehouse and drove home where she went straight to bed, her mind completely infiltrated with thoughts of Derek.

The next day was the start of Spring Break for Beacon Hills' students and Jess had the pleasure of sleeping in, but was awoken by her phone ringing and saw it was Lydia. She answered it.

"Hey Lydia."

"Finally someone picked up their phone." Lydia replied.

"Whatcha need Lydia?"

"As you probably already know, my birthday party is tonight and I need someone to come dress shopping with me."

"And you want me to come?"

"Well since Allison won't pick up her phone, yes."

"So I'm a second choice?"

"Can you just please go? I'll buy you a dress for the party."

"Fine I'll go."

"Great I'll pick you up in a half an hour."

Then Lydia hung up and Jess looked at her phone before tossing it on her bed and pulling herself out of bed. Jess pulled on a pair of army green skinny jeans and a black V-neck and a pair of black boots before slipping on a black jacket. She had time to do her make-up and hair before Lydia beeped out front. Jess grabbed her phone, keys, and wallet before going to leave but then stopped in her doorway and remembered her necklace. She grabbed it off her bedside table and pulled it on before meeting Lydia outside.

The two girls drove to the mall and went up to the Macy's. "So I'm thinking a hostess dress and then another for later on." Lydia said. "You're really going to change dresses during the party?" Jess questioned.

"Of course, I have to keep my fashion status up." Lydia told her.

The two stepped off the escalator and went over to the dresses. Lydia searched through the racks and pulled out a blue mini dress in her size and held it in front of her. "Whadda you think?" she asked. Jess looked at it. "I like it, goes with your eyes." she told her. Lydia smiled. "Now I also have to get something for Allison." She said, going back to raiding the racks. Jess picked out a red mini dress with two inch straps and a free bottom. Lydia picked out a floral print dress for Allison and another grey dress for herself.

The girls moved over to the jewelry and began looking at necklaces. "Can I ask you something?" Lydia asked. "Of course." Jess replied.

"What's the deal with Stiles?" Jess looked up at her. "Whadda ya mean?" she asked.

"While I was in the hospital he was there all weekend, searched the town up and down while I was out missing, and has probably been the nicest person to me since everyone started ignoring me." Lydia explained.

"That's just who he is, he cares about people." Jess explained. Lydia pulled a long gold necklace off the rack. "Seems like he is a little over caring sometimes…" Lydia stated.

Once they picked out jewelry, Lydia paid for everything, much to Jess's argument who offered to help pay. "Don't be silly." Lydia said. "I have plenty of money to spend." Jess rolled her eyes and took the bags from the cashier to carry back down to the car.

The two drove to the Argent house and Jess was recluant to go inside. "What's wrong?" Lydia asked. Jess looked at her and shook her head. "Nothing." She told her. Lydia smiled and then the two went up and went inside. Jess looked around and saw Chris in the kitchen and he gave her an angry look. She mouthed I'm sorry to him before going upstairs with Lydia. She followed her into Allison's room where Allison was writing in a notebook. "Clear you schedule." Lydia announced. "This is gonna take a while."

Allison got up and looked at the bags. "How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?" she asked. "Well according to Lydia a host dress, evening dress, and after hours casual." Jess told her as Lydia held up the dresses. "I noticed you didn't send out any invites." Allison pointed out.

"It's the biggest party of the year Allison…everyone knows." Lydia said.

"I was just wondering ya know this year things might be different." Allison explained.

"Why would anything be different?" Lydia questioned.

"Just because things have been off lately." Allison answered. "Things and people…like Jackson." Jess widened her eyes as she pulled out her dress noting that Allison brought up Jackson in front of Lydia who gave Allison an evil look. "What do you care about Jackson?" she asked coldly.

Allison shook her head. "Do you know if he's coming tonight?" she asked. "Everyone's coming." Lydia answered. The two girls exchanged looks before Lydia pulled out a pretty tan dress. "This is American Mag… I love it, for me not you." Lydia stated. "This one's Material Girl…that's for you." She said holding the dress up to Allison. Just then they heard a knock and all three girls turned and saw Mrs. Argent come in. "Mrs. Argent, what do you think of this one?" Lydia asked holding up the blue dress. "Oh it's lovely." She said. Jess could see the sweat beading off of her and her fast heart rate. Then she smelled something off… "Allison could I grab you for a minute, to talk? Just the two of us" Mrs. Argent asked her daughter.

"Uh can we do it later?" Allison replied.

"Uh to be sooner would be better." Her mother replied, touching her shoulder and then Jess knew what was wrong. "Party's at ten." Lydia said. "Oh uh but you'll be around before then?" Mrs. Argent asked. "I think so." Allison said.

"You think so?"

"I don't know." Allison said, growing annoyed. Then her mother turned to leave and staggered out. Jess looked at the girls. "Hey I have to go talk to my mom at the hospital." Jess lied. " I'll see you guys at the party." Jess added as she grabbed her bag. "Ten don't forget." Lydia said. "I won't, happy birthday Lydia." Jess replied walking out.

At her house, Jess was almost ready for the party when her phone began ringing. It was Derek.

"Hey." She greeted.

"Are you coming over here?" he asked.

"I don't think I need to, I'm feeling good."

"Well can you come anyway?"

"I have to go to Lydia's party, Jackson might be there."

"Forget about Jackson right now, I have three werewolves over here beginning to freak out."

Jess looked at the time. It was already past ten and Lydia was expecting her over. "Alright, I'll be there in five minutes." Jess said hanging up and rushing out of her room and downstairs.

Jess got in her car and sped over to the railroad house where she could hear roars. She parked quickly and ran downstairs where Isaac, Boyd, and Erica were freaking out. She kicked her heels off and rushed into the train car where Boyd and Erica had Derek pinned down. She sprinted over and pulled them off of him and helped Derek to his feet as the two out of control werewolves regained their footing. "I'll take Boyd you got Erica?" Derek asked. "Sounds like a plan." Jess replied. Boyd then lunged at Derek and grabbed him by the shoulders while Erica went after Jess. Erica swung at her, but Jess ducked and then grabbed Erica by the midsection which she did to ram the wolf into the back of the train.

Jess pinned Erica to the wall, but the out of control werewolf was able to kick her down and get on top of her, slashing her claws through the fabric of Jess's dress and into her flesh. Jess raised her claws and swiped them across Erica's face, causing her to fall off of Jess and onto the ground. Taking advantage of the situation, Jess grabbed Erica's hand and re-cuffed her hand to the seat. Then she turned back towards Derek as Isaac pulled Boyd off of him…Isaac found an anchor.

Jess rechained Boyd and Erica up as Derek chained Isaac back up just as a precaution. "You found an anchor." Derek told him. Jess looked over at the two. "My father." She heard Isaac say. Derek looked at him. "Your father locked you in a freezer to punish you." He reminded his beta. "He didn't use to." Derek looked up at him and then stepped off the train. Jess got up and then felt someone grip her wrist. She looked down and saw it was Erica. "Sorry I ruined your dress." She said. Jess smiled at the still full werewolf teen. "Don't sweat it." she told her, walking down the train and stepping off of it.

Jess stepped off the train and saw Derek wasn't there. "Derek?" she said. She let her eyes wander around and when a purple dust on the ground caught her eye. She bent down and picked some up between her fingers. "What the hell?" she said as she brought the powder to her nose to smell it only to be overcome by light headiness almost instantly. "Oh no." she groaned right before falling back and passing out.


	11. Gone

Jess awoke an hour later with a headache like she's never had before. She stood up and leaned against the train car when Derek came down the stairs. "And where the hell were you?" she asked. "Long story short, Peter's alive and we have to go find Scott." He told her walking into the train car. "I'm sorry." Jess said following him inside to where he slept. "Peter's _alive_?" she questioned. "Yeah and we have to find Scott now." He said taking his shirt off and pulling a new one out. "Okay, uh great that's just…" she said sitting down. "Okay where's Scott?" she eventually asked.

"At the police station." Derek told her, pulling on his shirt and looking at Jess. "Here." he said pulling out a black t-shirt and a pair of grey cotton shorts. "There Erica's I have them here so I have her scent if anything would happen." He told her tossing them to her. "You might want to change." Jess looked down at her torn and bloody dress. She slipped her dress off and pulled on the shorts and shirt before Derek handed her a pair of sneakers. She pulled them on as Derek put a clean shirt on and walked over to her, grabbing her hand and walking out.

The couple drove down the road, Derek driving and still holding onto Jess's hand. "Are you okay?" Jess asked him. "I just have a bed feeling about something." He told her.

The two arrived at the police station and could smell blood right away. Derek and Jess stepped out of the car and walked to the doors. "Whatever you do stay close to me." he told her. She nodded and then Derek grabbed her hand as they walked inside.

Right when they got inside, there was the body of a dead woman and blood everywhere. "They're in the back office." Jess whispered, picking up their scent. Derek walked past the desk still holding Jess's hand as they walked past a hallway filled with dead and bloody cops. "Jesus." Jess said looking away. Derek let go of her hand as they walked up to the back office door when something grabbed Jess and Derek felt a claw swipe across the back of his neck. He turned and saw Jackson holding Jess with claws to her neck and felt the feeling his legs go. Then someone opened the door, revealing Scott, Stiles, and Matt. "Oh thank God." Scott said. Then Derek fell frontwards onto the ground and Scott saw Jackson with Jess.

Jackson threw Jess into the room onto her ass and Stiles helped her up as Matt bent down next to Derek. "This is the one controlling him?" Derek questioned. "This kid?"

"Well Derek not everyone's lucky enough to be a big bad werewolf. Oh yeah," Matt said standing up and facing the other three. "That's right I've learned a few things lately. "Werewolves, hunters, Kanimas…it's like a fricken Halloween party every full moon. Except for you Stiles….Whadda you turn into?"

"An abominable snowman." Stiles answered sarcastically. "But it's more of a winter time thing ya know…seasonal?" Matt then jerked his head, signaling Jackson to take care of Stiles. Jackson swiped the back of his neck and Stiles wobbled to the ground. "Bitch…" he said, falling on top of Derek. "Get him off of me." Derek growled. "Oh I don't know Derek I think you two make a pretty good pair." Matt said. "But not a good as pair as you and Jessica over here." he said, raising the gun to Jess's head. "Hurt her I dare you and when this paralysis wears off, I'll rip your throat out." Derek warned.

"I don't wanna hurt her Derek don't worry, but I bet she's regretting rejecting me at the beginning of the year now aren't you Jess?" Matt asked, looking at her. "No, not really." She admitted shaking her head. Matt gave her an angry look before lowering the gun and pulling the trigger, sending a bullet through her side. "Scott! Stiles! What happened?!" they heard Mr. Stillinski yell. Jess collapsed to the ground holding her side and Derek growled. "Maybe I wanted to her hurt a little." Matt said. Jess looked at him with anger in her eyes. Then Matt bent down next to Derek. "It must kinda suck though." Matt said to him. "Having all that power taken away by a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless while you watch your pretty little werewolf girlfriend get shot."

"I still got some teeth." Derek reminded him. "Why don't you come down here a little closer and see how helpless I am?"

"Yeah bitch." Stiles said.

Just then car light flashed outside and through the windows. "Is that them?" Matt asked. "Who?" Jess asked. "Our moms." Scott said. "They were gonna be witnesses in pinning the murders to Matt."

"My mom is here?" Jess questioned. Just then Jess felt a claw go across the back of her neck and she collapsed the rest of the way to the floor. "Do what I tell you to McCall and I won't hurt them." Matt told him. "I won't even let Jackson near her."

"Scott don't trust him!" Stiles yelled. Matt pulled Stiles off of Derek and pressed his foot against his chest. "This work better for you?" He questioned Scott. "Okay, Okay just stop. Stop!" Scott begged. "Then do what I tell you to!" Matt angered.

"Okay." Scott agreed.

Matt took his foot off of Stiles and Stiles began coughing. "You take em' in there." Matt ordered Jackson. "You…with me." Matt told Scott. Just then Jess felt hands grip her and yank her into the office and was soon joined by Derek and Stiles.

"Dumbass doesn't even know he triggered the healing process and I'll be up again quicker than he thinks." Jess whispered to the two. Then they heard another gun shot and two screams. "Mom!" Jess yelled. Jackson went over to her and put her claws to her throat and then a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Jess nodded and then Jackson stood back up and went to the door.

A few minutes later, Scott and Matt returned.. "The evidence is gone." Scott reminded Matt. "Why don't you just go?"

"You think the evidence matters that much don't you?" Matt asked. "No I want the book."

"What book?" Scott asked.

"The beastiary, and I don't want just a few pages I want the whole thing."

"I don't have it…it's Gerard's, what do you want it for anyway?"

"I need answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Answers to this." Matt answered, lifting up his shirt, revealing patch of scales like a Kanima's.

All four hostages looked at his scales in shock and confusion as Matt pulled his shirt down and took Scott away once again.

"Hey." Stiles whispered. "Do you know what's happening to Matt?"

"The book's not going to help him." Derek told him. "You can't break the rules just like this."

"Whadda ya mean?" Stiles asked.

"The universe balances things out." Jess reminded him. "It always does."

"Is it because he's using Jackson to kill people who don't deserve it?" Stiles asked.

"Then killing people himself." Derek replied.

"So if Matt breaks the rules of the Kanima, he becomes the Kanima?"

"Balance." Jess said.

"Will he believe us if we tell him that?" Stiles asked.

"Not likely." Jess said.

"Okay he's gonna kill all of us when he gets that book isn't he?" Stiles questioned.

"Yup." Derek said.

"Alright so what do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?"

"Not if the venom gets pushed out of my body faster." Jess said. Then Derek began to dig his claws into his leg. "Or my body." He seconded.

A few minutes went by and Derek still had his claws in his leg, digging then into the flesh. "Is that hypothetical situation getting any less hypothetical?" Stiles asked. "Yeah, I can move my toes." Derek told them. Stiles sighed. "Dude I can move my toes." He told the werewolf.

"Hold, on, I can feel my arms." Jess said, moving them slightly. Just then the lights went out and gunfire began ringing out, causing Jackson to go and investigate. "Mom," she said. Then she struggled to move her arm up and then dug her claws into her side as deep as possible. Then she regained feeling all over. She hobbled to her feet and went over to Derek. "This might hurt." She warned him. He nodded and then Jess drove her claws deep into the flesh of his abdomen, causing him to grunt in pain. Then he was able to move again. Jess helped him to his feet as Scott walked in. "Take Stiles." Jess told him. "GO!" Scott picked up Stiles and put his arm around his neck and carried him out. Derek fell to his knees and Jess helped him back up. "You gotta do it again…" he groaned. Jess brought her claws out and jammed them into Derek's flesh causing his eyes to flash red and him to go into wolf. "Go find your mom." He told her. "I'll be fine."

Jess ran out of the room and towards the holding cell where she tracked Scott's mom's scent to. Once there, she went full wolf as she walked in where Matt was talking to the Melissa McCall when they noticed her in the doorway. Matt turned around and saw the werewolf causing an angry expression to spread across his face. She let out a loud growl when a loud, familiar scream caught her attention followed by a two gunshots. Looking away from Matt and down the hall, she took off towards where the scream came from in search of her mother.

In the hallway, Jess came across her mother lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor. She ran over and turned her mother onto her back to look at her, still in full wolf. "Mom?" she asked.

"Jess?" her mother gasped, looking at the werewolf features. Jess made them go away slowly, her ears shrinking down to normal and the hair on her face going back into her skin. Her claws went away and then finally her bright yellow eyes shifted back to their icy blue. "This was what I was hiding…" she finally said. "If I told you, you could have been put into a lot of danger."

"What…what are you?" her mother asked.

"A werewolf…" Jess said.

Just then her mom began to groan in pain. Jess quickly grabbed her mother's arm and did what Derek did to her at the hospital the night when she, Scott, and Stiles got trapped in the school. She gripped her mother's arm and sucked the pain out of her, Jess's veins running black. When she couldn't take it anymore, Jess dropped her mother's arm.

"How…did…you do that?" Jess's mom asked.

"The supernatural is a pretty amazing world…"

Jess went to pick her mom up, but when she let out a cry of pain Jess stopped. "Don't…" her mom said. "I know where I was shot and what the bullets hit…"

"No no no no no you aren't dying." Jess objected.

"Sweetie… I was shot in the live and lung…" her mom informed her. "I'm…not gonna pull through a surgery…"

Tears began streaming down Jess's face as she shook her head. "No I already lost dad, I can't lose you, too."

"It's okay…" her mom breathed out.

"No it's not…"

"I love you, Jessica. You…are my…greatest gift…"

"I love you, too Mom." Jess cried.

"No matter…what you are…you are my daughter and…I will always love you…"

More tears fell down Jess's face. "I'll say hi…to your father for you…" her mother said right before her head rested on the floor and her pupils got smaller and smaller. Jess put her head on her mother's chest and sobbed into the shirt she was wearing for a good ten minutes until a police officer came down the hall and collected her. "Nohooo mom!" Jess cried as the officer pulled her down the hallway away from her mother's dead body.

Out in the parking lot, Stiles and Scott saw a police officer come out with a crying Jess and Scott knew what must have happened. The officer brought her over towards a squad car, but she broke out of his grip and went over to the only two people she needed to be with…Scott and Stiles. She ran into Scott's arms and sobbed into his shirt as his arms locked around her. Stiles put his arms around both of his friends and they stood there as Jess cried her eyes out.


	12. Letting Go

In the days following the incident at the sheriff's department and the death of her mother, Jess packed up her things in boxes to move out of the house. She sold almost everything in her house which included almost all the furniture and both televisions, along with both computers and things in the kitchen. At the end of the day, Jess only held onto her and her parents' belongings, seeing no need in all the other things. She made some money off the items she sold and immediately put it in her bank account along with the money her mom and dad left her which was more than she could have ever expected. She also received money for being a victim for what Matt did and for the murder of her mother. Within a few days with the help of Stiles and his dad, they had the house emptied and on the market.

Jess was standing in front of the door on the last morning she'd ever be in the house she grew up in. Looking around, she saw her and her dad in his study, her and her mom cooking in the kitchen…all those memories made tears swell up in her eyes. She wiped them away and heard someone come up behind her. It was Stiles. She was staying with him and his dad since the night at the sheriff's department. "Hey Jess, don't worry my dad said you can stay with us as long as you needs to." He reminded her.

"Thank you…" Jess replied. "But when summer rolls around, I am going up to Beacon Hills University main campus for a summer program and then attending in the fall with a full academic scholarship."

"That's great." Stiles said. "Yeah, I never got the chance to tell my mom I got accepted." She added, tears swelling up again. Stiles looked at her with sad eyes and wrapped his arms around her. Then Jess lost it and let it out all over again. She sobbed into Stiles's shirt and couldn't stop. "She's gone…" she cried. Stiles tightened his grip on her. "You're okay Jess." He said. Jess hugged him back as more tears fell.

Once the tears stopped, Stiles drove Jess back to his house where she settled into the guest bedroom. The funeral was being held in less than two hours and Jess didn't know if she could handle it. She had her head in her hands when Mr. Stillinski walked in. "Hey Jess." He greeted. Jess picked her head up. "I know it's gonna be hard to go to the funeral, but I'm sure everyone would appreciate if you went." He said. Jess stood up. "I know it is, but I'm going." She told him.

"Okay." he said, walking out. Jess went over to the closet and pulled out her dress for the funeral. It was a simple black dress with two sleeves like on a t-shirt and a free bottom. She changed into it and pulled on a black jacket and her black heels before pulling her hair back in a head band. She didn't bother putting make up on since she knew she would probably cry again and then looked at Derek's necklace he left for her on her windowsill one night. She hasn't talked to Derek since that night let alone anyone really because she was just so broken inside.

When the time came around to leave for the funeral, Jess decided to walk to the cemetery to let her mind wander and walk in peace. She let her mind wander to thoughts of her mom and her dad and the moments she shared with them, not realizing how important those moments were until they were only memories.

At the cemetery, it was a closed casket and a lot of people showed up, too. People from the hospital that her mom worked with were there as well as neighbors, family friends, and Jess was surprised when she saw the Argents there. She walked up to the podium and looked at the people in the crowd and saw Scott and his mom, and was shocked when she saw Isaac and Derek sitting in the chairs. Jess looked down at her hands and began to recite what she needed to say.

"Thank you all for coming today. I am happy to see so many people cared my mother." She began. "This is my second time doing this for a parent and I wanna make sure I get it right." She continued. "My mother was probably the greatest mom through my eyes. She always has had a tricky schedule because of her job, even before my father died, but always made sure she made it to my school events and activities and she was always there for me when I had a bad day. After my father died though, things became tense between us. She had to work more and we didn't spend as much time together and we got into arguments half the time. Looking back though, none of those arguments had meaning and replaced the time we should have spent just being together." Jess was getting teary at this point. "I regret all those arguments that meant nothing and I regret not spending as much time with her as I should have…especially recently." Jess wiped her eyes. "You never know how much someone truly means to you and how much you cherish them until your moments with them become only memories and how when someone is really gone, that is all you'll have….memories."

Jess stepped down from the podium and sat next to Mr. Stillinski who handed her a tissue. Then the funeral director stepped up to the podium and asked if anyone had any words to say about Mrs. Cadwell. Then Jess heard someone walk up towards the podium and looked over and couldn't believe who it was…it was Derek.

Everyone looked at Derek as he approached the podium and Jess could hear the whispers of people. "What is he doing here anyway?" "Why is he even here?" "What would he have to say?" Jess looked up at Derek as he began to speak. "Hi." He said. "My name is Derek Hale, but you all probably already know that." He added before continuing. "There isn't a lot I have to say about Megan Cadwell because I didn't know her all that well, but I do have something I never really got to thank her for." Derek explained. "The day my house burned down, my uncle barely made it out and was taken to the intensive care unit at the hospital. My sister Laura and I had already lost so many people in the fire and we were terrified for our uncle. Megan sat with us and kept making sure we were alright and kept giving us updates on our uncle's condition. And when she told us he had made it, but had gone into a coma, my sister and I were upset, but happy he'd made it. Megan helped my sister and I through an extremely difficult time, but somehow made it a little easier, but sometimes taking just a little pain away can make a big difference."

Then Derek stepped down and Jess listened to all of the shocked reactions of the guests at Derek's eulogy. Jess watched as Derek retook his seat in the crowd and Jess listened as other attendees spoke and the funeral ended a couple of hours later. Jess went around and thanked everyone for coming and when she reached the Argents, it was a little awkward. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Argent, Gerard, Allison." Jess thanked them. Allison had a killer expression on her face and then remembered Stiles saying that Scott said she crossed over to the "dark side" or better known as being manipulated by Gerard about her mother's death.

"I'm so sorry about your mother Jessica." Chris said. Jess listened to his heartbeat and realized he wasn't just saying that, he meant it. "Thank you, I'm sorry about your wife." She said. Chris looked at her. "I truly am." Jess told him looking him in the eye to let him know she was telling the truth.

"Jessica I give my condolences about your mother and for your father was well, they were wonderful people." Gerard said. "Thank you." Jess replied. Then Chris checked his watch. "We have to go." Chris said. "I'm sorry for your loss again Jessica." Then the Argents walked off.

Once everyone left, Jess watched as her mother's casket was lowered into the ground next to her father's place. After it was over, Jess set a bouquet of roses on the grave and another bouquet of Tiger Lilies on her father's grave. "I love you." Jess said before walking off into the woods and towards the Stillinki house.

Once she was changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, Jess went to the Hale house ehereshe saw Erica and Boyd rushing into the woods. She walked up onto the porch and inside where she found Derek furiously flipping through old, dusty books. He turned around where he saw Jess standing there in the doorway and set down the book in his hands. "Hey." He said. "Hi…" she said. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you since that night, I've been busy with things…"

"Don't apologize." Derek said. "It's alright."

"Thank you for uh, what you did and what you said." Jess thanked him.

"Don't thank me…"

Jess crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other foot. "Is everything alright?" he asked. Jess shook her head. "I've been meaning to tell you something…" she said. Derek walked over. "What is it?" he asked. Jess looked at him.

"I've been accepted to Beacon Hills University…at their main campus." Jess told him

"That's great." Derek replied.

"Yeah it's two hours from here and I think it's uh, a good start for me to get away and try to move on."

"Move on from what?"

"Look Derek I have grown up in Beacon Hills. I had my family here, but now they're dead. And with everything that's happened these past couple of months…"

"Jess, what are you saying?"

"When I leave this summer for the summer program up there…I'm not coming back."

Derek looked at Jess with a confused expression. "What?" he asked. Jess pulled the necklace out of her coat pocket as she reached for Derek's hand and placed the necklace in it, then closing his fingers around it. "Jess no, you can't do this." Derek said. Jess's eyes got watery. "Derek I have to forget all of this, I have to forget about what happened here with Peter and what's happening with Jackson. And I have to forget everyone here…including you." Derek shook his head. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"Because I need to forget and I need to live a normal life." Derek walked away back to where he was before and put his hands against the table, leaning against it. "Jessica you're a werewolf and that isn't ever gonna change." He reminded her, not turning to look at him. Jess walked over to him. "I know that, but I wanna try Derek I wanna try going to college and going into a career I want that and I can't do that with all of this in my life." Derek looked at her. "So it'll be that easy, walking away without looking back and trying to forget everything you've gone through with Scott and Stiles?...and me?" Derek questioned. "I never said it would be easy, but I have to try to move on Derek." Jess told him.

Derek quickly grabbed a piece of broken glass on the table, turned and threw it as Jess watched it fly across the room and be caught by Peter with the end point against his neck. Derek turned all the way towards him and looked at him angrily. "I expected a slightly warmer welcome." Peter said. "But… point taken." He said holding up the glass. Jess turned towards him and anger filled in her chest. "Quite a situation you got yourself here Derek." He noted. "I mean I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem deprived adolescent in town. Not to mention, girlfriends troubles."

"Whadda you want?" Derek asked.

"I wanna help." Peter answered, walking towards Derek. "You're my nephew, you're the only relative I have left. You know there's a lot I can still teach you.' Peter was now right in front of Derek. "Can we just talk?" he asked, setting a hand on his shoulder. Derek looked at his hand. "Sure." He said. "Let's talk." Jess sat down as Derek threw Peter into the stairs, breaking the bars off the side of the railing.

Night time came over Beacon Hills and Derek was still kicking the crap out of Peter. Jess was leaning in the doorway as Derek threw Peter down the stairs and then came down, grabbed Peter by the shirt and punched him in the face. Then when he tried getting up, Derek kicked him in the stomach, sending Peter back on the ground.

"You don't think I actually want to be an alpha again do you?" he asked rolling onto his back. "That wasn't my finest performance considering it ended in my death."

Derek grabbed him by the shirt to punch him again, but stopped when Peter spoke up. "Okay come on do it hit me hit me!" he said. Derek stopped. "I can see it's gotten harder for you, you're letting go of all the anger that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one getting the beating, but you've already been beaten Derek. So go ahead, hit me…after all… all I said was I wanted to help." Derek released him and let out a few deep breaths. "You can't help me." He said walking over past Jess. Peter got up on his feet and looked at her.

"So I finally get to meet you, one of the strongest betas and the one that I created." He said. Jess smiled and walked over, but when she was close enough she spun around on one foot as quickly as she ever had and kicked him across the face as hard as possible, sending him back on his ass. "Okay I kind of deserved that." He said spitting out blood. Jess went over and pulled him up to his feet. "You say one wrong thing and I will not hesitate to slash your throat open." She warned, walking over and standing next to Derek who was clenching and unclenching his fists. "I have to get to the lacrosse game." She said. "I'll see you two later." she said turning and walking out of the Hale house.

At the lacrosse game, Jess arrived just as Isaac took the field and it wasn't belong before he started injuring his own team members. "What are they up to?" Jess asked, observing the game.

More players hit the ground when all of the sudden three players went down including Isaac. The medics took Isaac back to the locker room and Jess watched as Gerard slipped away quietly. Jess quickly rushed towards the locker room where Isaac was leaning against a sink and Gerard was about to cut him in half. "Gerard." She said. He turned around. She lowered her head and made her eyes glow yellow. "Get away from Isaac or I'll rip your elderly throat out." Isaac smiled and Jess brought out her canines. She grabbed the one hunter that was with Gerard and threw him into the wall and then let out a growl at old man. He backed up and the second hunter pulled out a Taser and shot in into Jess's chest. She grabbed the lines and pulled them as hard as he could, causing the hunter to fly towards her. She grabbed him by the neck and then threw him into the lockers.

When she looked back Gerard was gone. "Where is he?" she asked. "He just left." A scared looking Isaac told her. She put her claws and canines away as well as making her eyes go back to blue. She went over to Isaac. "You alright?" she asked. He nodded. "Come on." Jess said, grabbing his hand and leading him out.

Back on the field, everyone in the stands were cheering at the Cyclone's victory when all of the sudden the lights went out and a scream was followed afterwards. Isaac held on tight to Jess's hand as everyone began running around in panic. Jess could make out a group circling around someone's body on the ground when the lights came back on. Jess and Isaac rushed over where they found Scott and Jackson's body. Mrs. McCall checked his pulse and reported that he didn't have a pulse. She lifted up his shirt, revealing his bloody t-shirt. "Oh my God." Jess said. "Guys look." She said, looking at his hands. "He did it to himself?" Isaac questioned, trying to figure out why. "Yeah, he did." Jess said.

Mrs. McCall began giving him CPR as Stiles's dad past through the crowd and saw the dead body, realizing that it wasn't Stiles. Then he looked around the crowd, seeing no sign of his son. "Wh-Where's Stiles, where's my son?" he asked. "Where's my son? Where's Stiles? Where's Stiles? _**WHERE THE HELL IS MY SON**_?"


	13. Released

Jess snuck off the field away from Scott and Isaac when she picked up on Stiles's scent. She tracked the scent to the school parking lot and it began to thin out. "Damn it." she said. Then someone from came up behind her and hit her in the head, knocking her unconscious.

Jess awoke to the pain of being thrown down a flight of stairs. "Son of a bitch…" she said, opening her eyes and felt her hands tied behind her back and her legs tied together at the knees and ankles with industrial duct tape. "Jess?" she heard a familiar voice say. She looked up and saw a bruised and bloody Stiles. "Oh my God you're alright…sort of" she said struggling to get up. Stiles went over and helped her just as Gerard came down. "I will admit I was surprised to see you as a werewolf." He said coming down the stairs. Jess looked at him. "I wonder what your father would have thought that he loved oh so dearly was turned into one of the things he hated the most." He told her.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jess asked.

"Oh so he never did tell you did he?" Jess shook her head. "Jessica your father was a werewolf hunter just like the Chris and I are." Gerard told her. "What?" she demanded.

"Well the werewolf hunting stopped for him once he met your mother; he didn't want to bring her into the violence and sacrifice our side offers." Jess couldn't speak. "He was one of my beloved daughter Kate's projects. She took him under her wing and together the two were hunters together. When they came to Beacon Hills when they heard about the Hale's, your father met your mother and it ended right then and there. Kate was furious. After the Hale House fire, your father knew it was Kate's doing and he threatened to turn her in. So to prevent from that happening, she had his death arranged."

Jess was filled with anger and fury. She looked around and saw Boyd and Erica hanging by the ceiling by ropes and electrical cords, then at Stiles who looked just as shocked as she did. Finally she looked back at Gerard who looked proud. "Your bitch of a daughter killed my father?" She growled. "She made the right call." Gerard said. "And Matt didn't kill your mother either Jessica, she got in the way of my team and took the bullets." He added. Jess was filled with anger to the point she could feel the pain she felt on the full moon. Then she let out a loud roar and Gerard rushed out of the basement. Jess collapsed to the ground and ripped the restraints from her hands and legs grabbing Stiles and taking off up the stairs. "GO!" she growled. He stumbled back and rushed out of the house.

Jess ran to the Hale house where she found Derek and Peter on a laptop. "Did you know?" she asked them, tearing up all over again. "Did you know my father was a hunter?" Peter and Derek looked at one another before Derek walked over and led her over to the stairs, sitting down with her. "Did you know?" she demanded. "Yes…I knew." He told her. "But he stopped hunting us and didn't want you or your mom finding out so no one ever said anything."

Jess stood up. "Did you know Kate had my dad's murder arranged? And that Gerard's men killed my mom?" she questioned. Derek shook his head once as he looked at her with hurt eyes. He saw the tears swelling in her eyes again and stood up, taking her in his arms.

At first Jess tried pushing him away, but finally stopped fighting it and just sobbed into his shirt as he held her close to him. Just then Derek's cell phone began ringing in the other room where Peter was. Jess stopped crying and Derek walked her over to the room, an arm stretched across her shoulders

Derek went over to answer his phone and reported back to Peter what Scott was telling him about Jackson's not so much anymore dead body. "He says he's in some transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws." Derek reported. "That sounds sufficiently terrifying." Peter replied. "He also said he's starting to move." Derek added.

"Okay look I think I found something." Peter announced. Both Derek and Jess looked at the screen. "Looks like what you've seen from Jackson is just the Kanima's beta shape." Peter explained.

"Meaning what he could turn into something bigger?" jess asked. Peter clicked on something and leaned back in his chair. "Bigger and badder." He said.

"He's turning into that? That has wings." Derek pointed out.

"I can see that." Peter replied.

"Scott you need to bring him to us." Derek said through the phone. "Oh look someone made an animation of it; maybe it's less frightening if we..." Peter said clicking the video. The three wolves looked at the video when the creature let out a loud screech resulting in Peter closing the laptop. "Nope not at all you should probably meet him half way." Peter said.

The three werewolves drove to an abandoned warehouse where they were set to meet Scott and Isaac. Jess stood with Peter as Derek ran down the alley way on all fours and then did a front flip, landing in front of the others. Peter rolled his eyes. "Someone certainly enjoys making an entrance." Jess smiled before walking out of the shadows and towards the group where she saw Chris. "I'm here for Jackson not for you." Chris told Derek. "Somehow I don't find that very comforting." He replied. "Get him inside." Derek told Isaac and Scott.

They got the body bag inside and Chris, Derek, Isaac, Scott, and Jess stood around it. "Where are they?" Scott asked. "Who?" Derek questioned. "Peter and Lydia." Derek ignored him and unzipped the body bag, revealing Jackson. "Wait hold on a second, you said you knew how to save him." Scott reminded him. "We're past that." Derek said.

"What?" Scott said.

"Think about it Scott! Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog and he set this all into motion all so Jackson could get even more bigger and more powerful."

"No." Chris objected. The others looked at him. "No he wouldn't do that, if Jackson's a dog he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."

"Of course not." A voice said. Everyone looked up and saw Gerard. "Anything that powerful and out of control is better off dead." Just then Derek brought out his claws and went to slash Jackson's throat, but Jackson raised his claws and stabbed them into Derek's chest as he stood with him causing Derek to be lifted off the ground. Jess watched in horror as Derek was thrown across the room into another separated off by plastic sheets. "Derek!" Jess cried, running over.

She burst into the other room and found Derek on the floor. She put her had on the other side of him and looked at him just as she felt someone else in trouble. She looked back at Derek. "I'm fine…go." He said. She got up and ran out of the room where Scott, Isaac, and Chris was being chased by the Kanima. She rushed in and tackled the Kanima as it jumped towards Chris knocking it on the ground. She stood up in full wolf just as Derek appeared and let out a roar of dominance. Then Scott and Isaac appeared behind him in full wolf.

Jess got first run at the Kanima and hit it across the face only to be grabbed and thrown across the room into some old crates, but pulled herself up quickly.

Scott came up from and grabbed its head, but was thrown down and then Isaac had a go out of it, but was grabbed by the neck and thrown where Jess was. Derek jumped down off of a higher form and brought his fists down on its back. the Kanima went to swing him into a metal sheet, but Derek flipped off of it and landed where he stood before and went to throw a punch, but his fist was caught and then grabbed by the neck and thrown into the metal sheet and fell to the ground. Scott came up behind and kicked the Kanima into the metal sheet and went to attack it, but was kicked into a wall rowed with metal bars. Jess came over and kicked it into the metal sheet and hit him in the face only to be grabbed by the neck and thrown across the floor into the wall.

Derek stood back up and went to fight again, but the Kanima dug his claws deep into Derek's abdomen, causing him to fall to the ground. Jess watched what happened and struggled to her feet when she saw Allison stab Isaac multiple times. She let out a growl and watched Isaac collapse. She stood up and then saw her head towards Derek. She ran in Derek's direction and slid in front of him, protecting his body with hers. "Get away from him." She growled. "Looks like I'll just kill you too." She said walking up armed with her knives. "Allison!" Scott yelled. Then Jess let out the loudest roar as her yellow eyes melted into red. Allison had a shocked expression when the Kanima grabbed her wrists and shook the knives from her grip and grabbed her throat. "Not yet sweetheart." An approaching shadow said. "What are you doing?" Allison asked. "He's doing what he came here to do." Scott said.

"Then you know?" Gerard asked.

"What's he talking about?" Allison asked her grandfather.

"It was that night outside the hospital when I threatened your mother wasn't it?" Gerard asked. "I knew there was something in your eyes; you could smell it couldn't you?"

"He's dying." Isaac interjected.

"I am." Gerard confirmed. "I have been for a while now. Unfortunately science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet, but the supernatural does." He added looking down at Derek and Jess. Then he heard Allison's cry and looked at the Kanima who tightened his grip on her. "You monster." Chris said. "Not yet." Gerard said.

"What are you doing?" Allison asked. Gerard wordlessly ordered the Kanima to tighten his hold on Allison. "You'd kill her too?" Chris questioned. "When it comes to survival I'd kill my own son." Gerard barked. A quick silence fell before the Kanima released Allison and pulled Jess away from Derek and then grabbed Allison again, holding both his claws to both their throats. Gerard looked at Scott. "Scott." He said. Scott looked around and pulled out of wolf form before approaching Derek and grabbing him by the back of the neck. "No." Derek grunted. "You know he'll kill me right after…he'll be an alpha." Jess let a tear fall as she watched Derek. "That's true." Gerard confirmed. "But I think he already knows that don't you Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison…do this small task for me and they can be together you are the only piece that doesn't fit Derek and in case you haven't learned yet, there is no competing with young love." Gerard said slipping his jacket off.

"Scott don't." Derek grunted. "DON'T."

"Scott please!" Jess called out. "I'm sorry." He said looking at Allison. "But I have to." He said, bending Derek back. Gerard rolled his sleeve up and placed it in Derek's forcefully opened mouth and then was forcefully made to chomp down onto Gerard's arm. Gerard let out a short cry of pain before Derek unclamped from his arm and then collapsed to the ground. Gerard held up his arm, proud of the bite when a black liquid poured from his arm. "What the hell?" Jess said.

Gerard noticed all of the confused stares. "What?" he asked. He looked at his arm and saw the black liquid and looked at Scott. "What is this?" he asked. "What did you do?" Scott looked at Derek. "You always said Gerard had a plan. I had a plan, too." He said looking at Gerard. Gerard pulled out his pill container and looked at its contents. "No!" he grunted. He crushed the pills in his fist. "Mountain ash!" he yelled collapsing to his knees. Then he began bleeding from his ears, eyes, and nose before spewing black liquid up everywhere and collapsing over. "Why didn't you tell me?" Derek asked Scott. Scott looked at him. "Because you might be an alpha, but you're not mine."

The Kanima released its grip on Jess and she rushed over to Derek and bent down next to him, her red eyes no longer on display. She took his hand in hers and looked at Derek who was still in wolf form when Gerard began pulling himself away. He spit out more black liquid. "Kill them!" he yelled. "KILL THEM ALL!"

Gerard collapsed the rest of the way over and the Kanima released Allison's throat who then elbowed him in the face and running off just as a familiar jeep crashed through the warehouse, hitting the Kanima. Then Scott and Jess noticed Stiles in the car with his eyes closed. "Did I get him?" he asked. Scott smiled before the Kanima jumped up on the hood of the Jeep drawing a scream out of Stiles and Lydia. Stiles rushed over to Scott, but Lydia stood before the creature. "Jackson!" she said, holding up a key. "Lydia!" Stiles yelled, going to get her, but Scott stopped him. Then the Kanima held his claws up to the crying girl, but stopped when he saw the key.

Then Jackson slowly began going back to normal and took the key from Lydia and gave her a long look. Then he slowly backed up as Derek began getting up. Jess backed up, knowing what would happen next as Jackson held his arms up and let a tear fall. Then Peter and Derek ran at Jackson, then digging their claws deep into his flesh right in front of Lydia.

Jackson coughed as they had their claws in his flesh and raised him off of the ground. After a few seconds, they pulled their claws out and Lydia caught Jackson as he fell to the ground. Derek stepped back; now back to human form with a look of sadness on his eyes. Jess went over and linked her hand with his.

Isaac stepped back and Derek grabbed his shoulder with his free hand and pulled him back with him and Jess. Everyone watched in sadness as Jackson and Lydia shared their final moments together. "Do you? Do you still?" Jackson asked.

"I do." Lydia answered. "I do still love you. I do I do still love you." Then Jackson fell into Lydia's shoulders with his eyes closed. Jess looked down. "And then moments become memories." she whispered so almost no one could hear. Lydia laid Jackson down on the ground as the rest of his scales disappeared when Allison asked where Gerard was. "He can't be far." Chris answered. Lydia got up and wiped the tears from her face as Stiles approached her when a scraping sound caught everyone's attention. Lydia turned around and everyone watched as Jackson stood up, alive and arched his back with his arms at down and out and let out a loud roar as everyone looked in shock. Then his werewolf features went away and he looked at Lydia who ran into his arms and was welcomed by Jackson holding her tight in his arms.


	14. Epilogue

Later that night, Jess was sitting on the roof of the Stillinski house with Derek. "I still have to go away after school ends." She told him. "I know." Derek said. "There's nothing left for you here." Jess looked up at him and shook her head. "I know you're here, but I have to move on Derek."

"I get it Jess…I do." He kissed her forehead. "And I know you want to forget, but every now and then could you try to remember us?" he asked her. Jess looked at him. "I could never forget you Derek, no matter how hard I tried I will always remember you."

Jess smiled and wrapped her arms around him, happy to feel his arms wrap tightly around her. She pulled away and pressed her lips to his for a few seconds before pulling back. "I have to get used to not being with you." She whispered sadly. "Bye Jessica." He said. The pair got up and Derek jumped from the roof into the grass and looked up at her. She smiled weakly at him and he smiled back before taking off into the woods.

After he was gone Jess let the few tears fall. "I love you Derek Hale." She whispered quiet enough for him not to hear but glad she finally said it out loud.


End file.
